Twilight
by MitsukiShiroi
Summary: ItaSaku AU: Feeling like she’s caught in a twilight zone, Sakura doesn’t know what path to choose. Whether to abandon her family to regain her freedom or stay in the dark until salvation arrives.
1. Chapter 1

**Twilight – an Itachi & Sakura story.**

**By: Phantomica & MitsukiShiroi**

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

_**A/N: **__A new ItaSaku story! I'm quite excited!_

_As for the warnings; this story is AU, so don't expect the usual cast in this story._

**Chapter One – Breathless**

There was something about blood that made her hate it.

Perhaps it was the way it stained everything that once looked clean and pretty. Maybe it was because she saw too much of it already and was sick of it.

Then again, perhaps it was the way how _he_ seemed to enjoy the scent of blood as he hovered above dead bodies with a disgusting look in his eyes. He would sniff the fresh blood that still streamed from their victim's open wounds and then lick his katana almost clean before sheathing his weapon.

After that little tradition of his, he would look at her as if he tried to tell her that this was the price of betraying him.

Sakura would never betray him though. There was too much at stake and strangely enough, she valued her life—even though she didn't have one since he had stolen it from her.

Still, she loved life. She enjoyed the way the sun turned a deep shade of red as it set, how the rain fell, masking away tears and pain and washing everything away. Perhaps the thing she loved most was twilight.

"Sakura," a soft, deep voice called out, awaking her from her reverie.

As she looked up, she caught a man with light hair and green eyes staring at her. She smiled half-heartedly before standing up, looking over his shoulders to see the mess he had created.

She really hated blood.

"Are we done Kimimaro?" Sakura asked quietly.

"Yes."

Sakura watched silently as Kimimaro's bones retreated into his arm, silently questioning to herself if Kimimaro ever felt pain as they retracted.

As Kimimaro adjusted his light-blue uniform, Sakura turned around. They were two days away from Hakumei's headquarters.

Sakura snorted quietly as she repeated the name in her head.

_He_ had made it up, just to spite and make fun of Akatsuki. Naturally, when Akatsuki found out about his little joke, they weren't too happy and it seemed Akatsuki's leader had declared war against their organization. Sakura didn't mind.

If he died, she would be free. That was the only goal she had in mind.

She would hate it if Kimimaro died though. During her entire time with the organization, Kimimaro was her only friend and the only one who didn't treat her like a personal slave or an insect that needed to be crushed as soon as possible. He was the only real friend she had.

She would rather give her up own life than lose Kimimaro.

"Let's go," Kimimaro said as he put his hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah," Sakura responded.

They accumulated chakra to their feet before jumping on top of a branch, quickly jumping from one tree to another, both a mere blur as they passed from branch to branch, quickly exiting the forest.

Kimimaro was ahead of her and she just watched him absent-mindedly as he moved through the forest with a certain air of grace surrounding his movements. It was as if he was performing an intricate dance whilst avoiding stray branches. Faintly, she wondered if Kimimaro ever thought about the situation they were in and if his life was as complicated as hers was.

As she landed on the wood and quickly jumped further, she took a moment to reflect on the organization, or rather, the man that had taken her away from Konoha. Although it happened years ago, the memory of being torn away from her parents was still vividly embedded in her mind. She would never forget the tears that had streamed freely over her cheeks for hours and the gold eyes with the snake-like pupils that would haunt her dreams for many years to come.

She blinked and looked down at the gold kanji that was sowed into the back of Kimimaro's kimono. The word 'Hakumei' was an eyesore and she wished she could just use a kunai and cut the offending word out of his blue attire.

Hakumei, or 'dusk'… the name of their organization that he had set up. An organization that existed for the sole purpose of taunting the organization called Akatsuki. Formed by a group of elite shinobi, each skilled in basic shinobi skills while having other techniques up their sleeves, they were all taken in by Orochimaru.

Some of them were found, like Kimimaro was. His clan had forced him to fight against Kirigakure, and everybody but him had died during this combat because of their foolish desire to fight until one of the parties was defeated. Kimimaro was the only one who survived and had the tough luck to run into Orochimaru months later.

Although Sakura felt sorry for the Kaguya clan-member, he didn't feel like he was being controlled by Orochimaru in the least and felt more like he was serving a duty because Orochimaru had saved his life.

Some of them were taken from their homes after it was discovered that they had special talents, like Sakura. The pink-haired kunoichi had the extraordinary ability to control her chakra perfectly, which seemed to be good enough for Orochimaru to take her along with him and train her to be a second medic, in case anything ever happened to Kabuto.

"Sakura, watch out," Kimimaro warned in a calm voice as he glanced over his shoulder. "That branch is sticking out."

Hearing the warning too late, her pants got caught in the branch, causing her to topple over and plummet down to the merciless ground. She closed her eyes, preparing for the imminent pain until she realized that she wasn't falling and that Kimimaro had wrapped an arm around her and pulled her to safety in time. Sakura breathed in the faint musky scent that belonged to Kimimaro as she forced her heart to stop racing.

"You okay?" he queried softly as she reopened her eyes.

"Yes," she answered, embarrassed. "I wasn't paying attention, sorry."

The white-haired man let go of her and stepped back. "Watch out. Some of these branches are traitorous and you don't have enough chakra left to heal yourself."

The kunoichi nodded in agreement and watched Kimimaro as he leaped away before following him. "So where are we going?"

"There's a small village nearby," he said softly. "We'll stay there for the night and we'll resume our path to headquarters in the morning."

She nodded again even though she knew he couldn't see her. The remaining road to the village was quiet, apart from the sounds of the rustling leaves and the sounds of their feet hitting the wood.

------------------

By the time they had arrived in the small town called Kyou, both Kimimaro and Sakura were exhausted and drenched. It had started to rain incessantly just mere hours after they had started their long journey and there was no option but to continue.

They passed a small wooden gate and looked around to see if they could see any civilians, but most of them were probably in their houses, seeking shelter from the rain. Two small children peeked out of the doorway as they passed by, obviously scared and intimidated. The pink haired kunoichi tried to smile at them, but the children quickly moved out of sight.

Eyes downcast, she focused on the road in front of her and the mud-stained sandals of Kimimaro as he seemingly dragged himself forward. It was as if he were walking by sheer willpower alone.

Her gaze wandered to his back and moved up until she could see the outline of his jaw. Silently, she wondered whether he was doing okay, but before she could even assure herself that nothing would happen to her incredibly powerful companion, Kimimaro staggered, started coughing and dropped down on his knees.

Kimimaro coughed violently, and even though he was covering his mouth with his hand, she could still see crimson liquid dripping down to the muddy ground, mingling with the rain that was still falling down relentlessly.

Momentarily stunned, she watched as he doubled over before hastily making her way over to him. She dropped down next to him, one hand on his shoulder, supporting him silently as he coughed again. "Are you alright?" she asked, at a loss of words as she tried to help him up after his coughing fits subsided.

He just glanced at her, his green eyes blank as he scrutinized her. His hair was sticking to his face and small streams of blood dribbled from his lips to his chin, mixing with the water. "I'll be alright," he said slowly, weakly as Sakura wrapped an arm around his waist and maneuvered his arm around her neck. "I just need to lie down."

She sighed, helping him as he feebly took a few steps while leaning on her. "There's probably an inn nearby, can you hold on while we search for one?"

Kimimaro exhaled, muttered a silent "yes" and Sakura helped him take another few steps. As they turned a corner, a large building loomed up in front of them. The paint was peeling and the windows looked dirty, but Kimimaro needed to lie down and she wasn't sure how far she could take him. The inn in front of her had to do.

The Kaguya clan member straightened himself with tremendous effort, gaining an inquiring look from Sakura as she observed Kimimaro's movements. "We don't want to wake the impression that we're weak. Missing-nin stop by this village, so it might be dangerous."

She stepped away from him, allowing him to straighten up. "Let's go inside quickly," she whispered, watching him closely as he wiped away the remaining blood from his chin. "If you catch a cold, you'll be in trouble."

At this, he raised his eyebrows and almost looked like he was holding back a faint smile before he inhaled and walked towards the building, his shoulders straightened and his stride graceful. She couldn't help but admire his sheer determination as he strode towards the building, looked around, beckoned for her and stepped inside of the building. Every move must have hurt, but he never showed any signs of pain.

Sakura smiled as she looked up to the sky, letting the rain fall on her face for a moment and enjoying the sound of the pouring rain before she followed Kimimaro.

-------

It was still raining after she had brought Kimimaro to a room and tended to his lungs. Although they still had no idea what illness was plaguing Kimimaro, it was clear that it was centered in the lungs, as he continued to cough up blood.

Afterwards, she walked out of the room and sat down on the porch.

The inn, although shabby, was actually a pretty cozy and traditional Japanese inn. All of the rooms were simply decorated with a few tatami mats, a table, a futon and a closet. Better yet, and all around the building, there was a porch where you could sit down and look outside through the glass doors.

Yawning, she watched the rain as it fell down, recalling the memories of the day that her mom took her to the park in Konoha. She had only been seven or eight-years-old and she begged her mother to go to the park, even though the sky looked ominous and her mother warned her that it would rain.

Sure enough, a few minutes after they reached the park, it started to rain and most children ran home, but Sakura couldn't care less. Although her mom had warned her and told her that it was best that they go home because she'd get sick, she carelessly ran around in the rain, enjoying it as it washed away everything.

If she closed her eyes, she could still envision her mother yelling at her with a worried look in her eyes.

Her fondness for the rain never went away. While growing up in Hakumei's headquarters, she'd always run outside if it started to rain, wanting to watch it. _He_ never understood why. The rain would clean away the blood and if there was something Orochimaru loved, it was the aroma of blood and its vivid, scarlet color.

A fleeting memory of golden eyes and a malicious grin crossed her mind before she expelled him from her thoughts. It would be another day before she would have to face him once again.

Sakura pushed herself off the ground, determined not to ruin her night.

If she recalled correctly, there was a bar next to the inn. She would go there for a drink before going to bed. The roseate kunoichi certainly needed to warm up a little.

-----------

The bar was dark, and saturated with the scent of alcohol and smoke. She could see men sitting at the bar and around the tables, but it was so dark that she could hardly distinguish their faces. Several men looked up as she stepped inside, but she ignored them all and made her way to the bar.

There was one free place and she sat down, ignoring the gaze of the blond man that sat next to her.

"What can I get'cha?" the barkeeper asked, eyeing her suspiciously as he cleaned a glass with a filthy looking rag.

Disdainfully, she looked at the rag before answering. "Something strong."

"Something strong for the pink-haired girl comin' up," he grinned, showing off his bad teeth. She watched him carefully as he grabbed a glass and poured the contents of a grubby-looking bottle into it.

"Want me to pay for that drink?" the blond next to her asked, smirking as he continued his inspection of her.

"Do I look poor to you?" Sakura bit back.

Laughing erupted next to the man. "She's a feisty one!"

"You'll have to excuse us," the barkeeper said as he put down a glass filled with a liquid that looked like sake in front of her. "It's not often that we get to see girls in this bar."

"It's noticeable," Sakura commented wryly, taking a sip of her drink.

"So, where do you come from?" the barkeeper asked, continuing his duty of cleaning the glasses.

"The country of River," she lied easily. "I traveled here to find some rare herbs."

"You're a doctor?"

"Something like that."

He nodded, obviously satisfied with the answer. She downed the remainder of her drink and earned an appreciating smirk as he refilled her glass. "Take it easy, its strong stuff."

"I'll keep that in mind," she said calmly.

---------

Several hours and a few glasses of sake later, the blond man sitting next to her had stood up but then was carried out of the bar, seemingly unable to walk on his own. She resisted the urge to laugh as he proclaimed his need to pee and started pulling his pants off. His two friends looked absolutely disgusted as they quickly helped him outside, apologizing to the barkeep.

A man dressed in black stepped inside, but Sakura turned around. She wasn't particularly interested in any new customers of the bar and certainly didn't want to give that impression to anyone. She drank quietly, ignoring the new man as he sat next to her and ordered something.

From the corners of her eyes, she could tell that he had long hair, tied up in a tie near the base of his skull. Raven hair framed his face, making it almost impossible to see more than his nose. He was dressed in a dark attire, and from the looks of it, it looked like the material was silky. The man was probably one of the more wealthy members of the village as the barkeeper didn't ask him any questions but quickly served him a drink before bowing deeply.

Sakura sighed and stood up; asking the barkeeper how much she owed him before laying the money down on the counter. As she took a step, she found out that walking seemed harder than usual and inwardly cursed herself for drinking too much. She stumbled back and bumped into the man's back.

Hastily, she whirled around to apologize, but when she finally saw the man's face, the words seemed to be stuck in her throat as she could hardly breathe. The sounds of people talking and laughing seemed to disappear as the entire world stopped for a second.

"_He looks like…"_

Crimson eyes stared at her, unblinking as they revealed no emotions whatsoever. Lines graces his cheeks, making him look older than he probably was. His thin, masculine lips were forming an unreadable line as he inspected her, perhaps waiting for an apology that would be imminent.

Shocked by his resemblance to someone from her past, she stepped back, quickly regaining her composure as she inhaled deeply and bowed. "I apologize for bumping into you."

She raised her head to watch his reaction, but he just gave her another look that seemed impossible to read or show what he was thinking about. He turned around without saying anything else and with that, broke the spell that he had cast upon her.

With much effort, she dragged herself towards the door and stepped outside, closing the door behind her.

She leaned against the wooden door, breathing heavily as she compared the man's face to the face of the man etched in her mind. Sakura could never forget about his crimson eyes and his long, raven hair that was similarly styled to the man in the bar, but short and spiky instead of in a tie.

The pink-haired kunoichi stood there for a few seconds, regulating her breathing as the rain poured on her. Eventually, she stepped away from the door and moved towards the inn, wanting to get some sleep and forget all about the enigmatic man she had just met. It wouldn't do her any good to ponder over the issue any longer.

Her sandals were covered in mud and filth after just a few minutes of walking, but she couldn't care less. As she stepped inside of the inn, she took her boots off out of habit, not wanting to make the floor dirty.

The rain, or perhaps seeing that man, seemed to have sobered her up as she walked over the porch towards her room, carefully walking past Kimimaro's room, knowing how fast he would rouse if he heard a sound. She turned around the corner and to her surprise, the man from the bar stood there, thumbs hooked in his pockets in a very casual fashion, although it struck her as odd for a moment. He was watching the rain as it fell down and streamed over the soiled stones that lay on the ground.

He obviously heard her approach as he glanced at her, scrutinizing her as she gazed back, determined not to let him get the best out of her. Sakura had lost her composure in front of him once before; she would not make the same mistake again.

"So we meet again," she said, as cool and collected as she could possibly be at that time.

This time, he turned around to face her, his hands still in his pockets as he stared at her. "You act as if we have met before," the man said, in a deep, smooth voice.

"We have met before," Sakura responded simply. "I bumped into you in the bar."

He made a sound that resembled an "_ah,_" but never averted his eyes. "I trust you are sober now?"

"I'm not," the kunoichi answered truthfully. "Half-sober perhaps."

He finally broke the eye contact by turning back to face the gardens and continued watching the scenery, seemingly ignoring her now. She watched him for a few more seconds, contemplating whether to leave him alone, but decided against it in the end.

She stepped towards him. "You remind me of someone."

He didn't respond.

Agitated, she took another step into his reaction. "I'm trying to start a conversation here."

The man remained quiet.

Somewhere, deep inside, Sakura knew not to anger this man. Even her alcohol-induced mind knew that she was playing with fire and that the man in front of her was more dangerous, more vicious than the average man. But she couldn't care less at the moment. All she wanted was just one answer and go to bed to forget about this entire ordeal.

"You _could_ answer, you know?" she pressed on, determined to get an answer.

"How would you like me to answer?" he asked quietly, sounding somewhat amused by her antics.

"You could ask me who resembles you," she was almost grinning by now, most satisfied by the fact that she had pressured him into answering her, and even more satisfied that he actually showed a faint hint of emotion.

"Tell me," he answered softly.

"Someone from my past."

He didn't answer her, but she hadn't expected him to either. Why she told him that he reminded her of someone was beyond her. She blamed it on the alcohol and took a few steps towards her room before halting, realizing that there was another thing she wanted to ask him. "Do you like the rain?"

"Yes," the man answered after a short pause, as if he had to think about his answer.

Sakura smiled, inwardly thinking about how he wasn't as bad as she first assumed. Alcohol was definitely messing with her brain. Perhaps he was just the silent but strong kind of guy and gave off the vibes that he wanted to be alone.

She touched his back, tempted by his muscular-looking back and the silky shirt that hugged him beautifully. He tensed up underneath her touch and she quickly realized that she was right. He was definitely a shinobi.

Although it was raining outside, it had been warm inside. Yet, the warmth in the room quickly disappeared after she touched him, making room for an icy chill and pure bloodlust. Quickly, she removed her hand from his back. "I'm sorry," she hastily said. "I don't know why I did that."

As soon as it came up, it went away again and she found it easier to breathe as his intention to kill seemed to disappear.

The small, white tie around his hair was coming undone, but she was too afraid to point it out. He probably felt it as his hand moved towards his hair and pulled it free from its restraint, causing it to fall down around his back and shoulders.

As he turned around, her breathing became increasingly heavy as her eyes grew wider and fear was clearly written all over her face.

The handsome features of the man were changing into the white skin that belonged to her worst nightmare. The lines disappeared and made place for hollow cheeks and prominent cheekbones. His eyes changed from crimson to gold and a malevolent smile formed on his lips.

She stood there, watching him in fear before she pushed him away roughly, blinked, and turned everything back to normal.

Orochimaru didn't stand there, it was the man; his hair had greatly resembled Orochimaru's. The man looked up, with a look that spoke of both interest and perhaps even surprise as he observed her while she backed up against the wall, inhaling deeply as she tried to calm herself down.

Every time she tried to look at him and apologize for her behavior, she was reminded of Orochimaru and rewarded with flashbacks and horrifying memories before she finally had enough. She closed her eyes and pushed herself away from the wall as she started running towards her room, leaving the man behind.

It wasn't until she closed the door behind her that she calmed down a little. With a ragged inhale, she sat down on the bed and buried her face in her hands to quell the tears that were threatening to spill.

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_**A/N: **After this chapter, Phantomica stopped writing and so I'm on my own now for this story, which means the updates will take longer, but I'll try my best to make it worth it!_

_Hakumei is the Japanese word for 'dusk', while Akatsuki is the Japanese word for 'dawn'. We chose the name because it's a good parallel._

_Hope you enjoyed it and see you next time!_

_-- Phantomica & MitsukiShiroi_


	2. Chapter 2

**Twilight – an Itachi & Sakura story.  
By: MitsukiShiroi**

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

_**A/N: **__For everybody who asked; I'm writing Twilight on my own now!_

_Dedicated to Eriko Ivanov for making the very first Twilight fanart and inspiring me greatly to continue with this story! Also dedicated to Zelha who re-awakened my muse from its deep sleep._

_Pein is the Akatsuki leader; he finally got a name in chapter 363. _

**Chapter Two – Sleepless**

If she closed her eyes and concentrated deeply she could still feel the warmth of his hand in hers. The scent that belonged to him; that strange mixture of forest and fire would never leave her nostrils and she relived that one moment when she met him over and over again. It was the only comfort she had right now.

A warm, calloused hand on her shoulder awoke her. Sakura opened her eyes to find Kimimaro hovering above her, a small smile adorning his lips. "You were probably having a good dream. I'm sorry."

She realized she had been smiling in her sleep. "Don't apologize."

He turned around and she quickly took a moment to stretch and sit up straight in her futon, running her hand through her hair as she tried to tame it. "Are you feeling better now?" she asked conversationally, glancing at Kimimaro's back.

"The coughing stopped," he said nonchalantly. "I don't feel fatigued anymore."

"That's good to hear," Sakura said happily. "Give me a moment to get dressed and we'll go get some breakfast before going to headquarters."

Kimimaro wordlessly stepped outside the room, calmly sliding the door shut. As soon as she heard him walking away calmly, she stood up from her comfortable and warm futon and changed into her uniform.

Feeling absolutely disgusted for wearing it again, she packed up what little possessions of hers that were scattered over the floor and stepped into the bathroom, hurriedly brushing her teeth and fixing her hair. As soon as she was done, she left the bathroom, checked whether she had left anything behind and then turned around to leave the room.

The second she stepped outside, she instinctively looked around for the man with the ponytail, but he was nowhere in sight. Feeling almost relieved, she walked away from her room to the room where Kimimaro was awaiting her. The only sound she heard was the sound of her own feet as she calmly moved away from the room.

When she reached the room, she threw her bag over her shoulder and slid the shoji screen open. On the verge of asking Kimimaro whether he was ready, she noticed another man in the room, clad in a black cloak with red clouds. '_Akatsuki'_, flashed through her mind as she dropped the bag and hastily grabbed a kunai from her pouch. Sakura quickly glanced at Kimimaro, trying to see what he was thinking, but like all shinobi she knew, his face was a complete blank.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed towards the figure. As he turned towards her, she noticed the gills on his cheeks and his grey skin. The Akatsuki member then grinned at her, revealing his sharp teeth.

He made an approving sound as he fully turned towards her, still grinning. "I noticed your little friend here and thought I'd stop by. Seeing as we are from rivaling organizations, it's always nice to know what the other one is up to," the man rasped.

"As I've said before," Kimimaro calmly spoke up. "We have nothing to tell you. Now leave."

The Akatsuki member sniggered and as soon as she blinked, he vanished. Before she could even turn around and look for him, Sakura felt his fingers pressing against her throat, cutting off her airway. Struggling hard, she tried to free herself from his iron grasp, but only succeeded in dropping her kunai. "Are you sure you have nothing to tell?" the man spoke up. A wave of nausea arose as she smelled the man's breath; rotting, as if something that had died years ago lied just behind his razor-sharp teeth.

"Let her go," the silver-haired man said, bringing his hand to the sword that rested near his hips. "Don't force me to attack you."

He pressed his fingers even deeper in her throat and she was close to losing consciousness when a deep voice from behind them called out. "Kisame."

Immediately, his grip on her was gone and she fell down to the ground, gasping pathetically, inhaling fresh air. Kimimaro made a sudden movement and stood in front of her, shielding her from the Akatsuki member that had attacked her, his katana half draw from his scabbard. Recognizing the voice that had become her savior, she looked up and met the crimson gaze of the man she had been talking to during the previous night.

His eyes enthralled her, and followed her every movement as she calmed down and stood up, grabbing the kunai she had dropped in the process. Boldly, she looked into his eyes as she stepped up next to Kimimaro, forming a front against the two Akatsuki members. The man called Kisame just grinned at her, watching her throat as if he'd like to continue his handiwork.

"Let's go," his partner said, in what seemed his usual, cold tone. "We didn't come here to start a war with this…_organization_."

The sarcasm laced in the final words of his sentence was maddening. Even though she hated Hakumei with all her being, it was as if Kimimaro was being mocked together with her, but they were competent shinobi and certainly worth some respect. She was about to voice her opinions, but Kimimaro gently touched her hand as a warning, as if he felt that she wanted to say something.

"Hm," Kisame said with a last grin, turning around. "We could have gotten some information from them."

The smaller man didn't reply, just mimicked Kisame's movement and walked away from the room. Kisame sighed and then followed him without even saying a word.

The two Hakumei members stood next to each other, listening to their footsteps as they walked away. Sakura breathed in deeply and shot Kimimaro an apologetic look as she ran towards the door and stepped into the hallway. "Sakura!" he yelled, but she didn't listen.

"Wait!" she cried out, earning their attention. They turned around to face her, Kisame still wearing that hideous grin while the other one just looked at her, his face not betraying any of his emotions.

"What is it kunoichi? Got something to tell us?"

She blatantly ignored Kisame's remark and stalked towards them without even fearing what they might do to her. The question she had to ask to him was so important; everything depended on it. Behind her, she could hear Kimimaro dashing out of the room, but she didn't stop walking until she was right in front of the man. "What is your name?"

A blank look. For a moment, she was scared that he might kill her on the spot, but to her utter surprise, he answered after an uncomfortable pause. "Uchiha Itachi."

Sakura swallowed hard, nodding her head. "Do you know where Uchiha Sasuke is?"

Itachi observed her for a while longer, his eyes never betraying what he thought of her for asking such a question, or if he even knew Sasuke. Perhaps it was just a coincidence that they had the same last name and resembled each other. Maybe she made a huge mistake by asking Akatsuki questions.

And then, he turned around and walked away from her, Kisame following him like an obedient dog follows his master. As they turned around the corner, the little spark of hope that had ignited inside of her faded away and the only comfort she had left was Kimimaro's hand on her shoulder.

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"She was sure a bold kunoichi," Kisame grinned as they exited the inn. "I never would have thought that she'd have the guts to run after us." He glanced at his partner, watching his reaction to see if it was safe to continue. Deeming it safe enough to try, he carefully asked: "Who is Sasuke?"

The Uchiha didn't reply, but his mind was reeling with mental images of a young boy dressed in grey shorts and a black shirt with the Uchiha symbol on the back. A young boy, screaming at him in despair as he ran towards him, thrusting a kunai towards his heart. A young adult wearing Orochimaru's colors as he held on to him, grabbing his katana with his other hand.

"Sasuke is…" he calmly started, contemplating about how he should describe the young man that had challenged him over and over again. "A failure."

-------------

Sakura watched him as he coughed a little, obviously struggling to walk on, but he didn't say anything to her. Over the year, she had come to realize his feelings about his disease and how he disliked being useless. If she'd rush over to help him out now, Kimimaro would feel utterly useless and he'd get that distant look in his eyes, as if he were wondering how things would be if he wasn't ill.

For now, she'd watch him until his condition worsened. They were only a few hours away from headquarters and she knew he desperately wanted to reach it before sundown, not wanting to keep Orochimaru waiting for much longer.

She exhaled, following Kimimaro as he leapt into the air, landed on a branch and started to make his way through the forest. His moves seemed to be even more strained than before, but she held up hope that he might make it to the headquarters before collapsing. If that happened, it would be a much better scenario than spending the night in the forest with hardly any equipment to treat him.

As if he felt her hesitance to go on, Kimimaro suddenly straightened himself and started leaping from tree to tree in his usual pace. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. "If you're too tired, we can stop and- "

Her sentence was abruptly cut off as he raised his hand, signaling to her that she should stop talking. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." He glanced over his shoulder, showing her his reassuring smile. Sakura smiled back halfheartedly, still worried but she knew that he'd tell her if he needed a rest. He placed Orochimaru before everybody else, and the way to be most useful to Orochimaru was if he lived longer. Kimimaro knew that if he'd force himself to do things his body couldn't handle, he'd die and the mere thought of her partner dying felt unbearable to her. "I won't," she replied softly.

They took a small break after a few hours, and as Sakura squatted down near the creek to fill her bottle with water, Kimimaro crouched down beside her, eyeing her before mimicking her movement. "You realize we're being watched?"

She smiled. "Yes."

"I think it's just a small team, two, maybe three shinobi," he continued as he looked up. For a split second, he looked worried before restoring his normal stoic gaze, but she had seen it and understood that they were powerful shinobi, and that Kimimaro was afraid that they might not be able to handle it. "I think we should-"

"Go back to headquarters," she interrupted him, closing her bottle. "And let the other Hakumei members handle it. I'm exhausted from the trip and you're not in any condition to fight against them right now."

She stood up, ignoring the shocked look on Kimimaro's face as she stowed away her bottle in her backpack and then held out a hand. He hesitated for a moment, obviously doubtful and not knowing what to do, but after a short pause, he resigned himself to the fact that Sakura's proposal was for the best and that they were only wasting time. Kimimaro accepted her hand and pushed himself off the ground. Quickly stowing his bottle away, he leapt away, followed by Sakura.

"Let's pick up the pace a little," Kimimaro said to her after a while, and although he tried his hardest to hide it, she clearly noticed the stress etched in his eyes. Even though she hadn't answered him yet, he was doubling his speed, showing that there was no time to discuss his suggestion. Although she was tired and worn out, she fought hard to keep up with him, knowing that if they'd fall behind, the others would catch up with them and they wouldn't be able to fight back.

But she was too tired to run, too tired to walk and too tired to even keep her eyes open. She had only slept for an hour, Itachi's face constantly popping up when she tried to close her eyes, reminding her of what she tried to forget. Her chakra was completely depleted and although Kimimaro usually noticed when this happened, he remained oblivious to the fact that she was slowing down until he heard her fall down.

Hastily, he turned around, jumped off the branch he was standing on and sprinted to the place where she fell down. Sakura lay on the ground, unconscious. He inwardly swore; this happened only when her chakra was depleted completely, but she usually warned him when she felt fatigued. Gently, he picked her up, held her tightly in his arms and started running towards the headquarters.

Whoever was following him would have to stop their chase soon; the other members of Hakumei that were guarding the place would attack them. As that thought crossed his mind, headquarters loomed up in front of him. Abruptly, he stopped running and looked up to see if he could spot one of the other members.

High up in the trees, he could see Sakon's head sticking out, lazily checking who was there. "Kimimaro, you're back?"

Sakon jumped down and landed on the soft patch of grass not far from where Kimimaro was standing. "What happened to Sakura?"

"Fainted, she's exhausted," Kimimaro hastily replied. "We have another problem though. We've been followed for a few hours now and they're getting closer."

"We know," the grey-haired man said calmly, still observing Sakura as she slept, her head leaning against the Kaguya's chest. "Kabuto left a while ago, he took Tayuya and Kidoumaru with him. They'll be keeping an eye out and exterminating them if they get any closer."

"What about Orochimaru-sama?"

Sakon looked up, licking his lips in the process. "He's been away since yesterday. It seems he told Kabuto he had some business to do and left quickly without talking to anyone else. Orochimaru-sama didn't even tell Kabuto when he'll be back."

Kimimaro nodded. "I'll take Sakura to her room then."

The Hakumei member watched his back as he stepped into headquarters and closed the door behind him.

----------------

A knife, gleaming metal, cold. Long, white fingers like spiders over her face, cupping her mouth so that she could hardly breathe as he held it in front of her, taunting her, mocking her, showing her the blood that stained the cold metal. She could feel his breathing on her neck and watched as his long tongue slipped out of his mouth to diligently clean the blade.

Sakura woke up with a start, voices in the corridor had awakened both her and Kimimaro who had sat on the ground and had fell asleep with his head on her bed. He looked up, blinked a couple of times, and then put his fingers to his eyes, forcefully rubbing them. "Are you okay now?" he asked calmly.

"What's going on?" she queried, blatantly ignoring his question. "What happened to our pursuers?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. You collapsed near headquarters, so I carried you here and heard from Sakon that Kabuto, Tayuya, and Kidoumaru had been set out to eliminate the followers." With that, he pushed himself up and extended a hand. Sakura accepted it and climbed out of her bed, holding onto him for support.

"If you're not up to it, I can go alone," he said as she tightened her grip around his arm, almost unable to stand without any support. "You should rest some more."

"No," she said, forcefully, her eyes blazing as she looked up at him. Ever since she had joined Hakumei, it had become clear to everybody in her organization that she had low stamina. While the others taunted her about it, Kimimaro acted as if she was a small child that needed protection. She appreciated his kindness, but she was still a kunoichi. "I'm strong enough to go, I just need a moment."

He nodded, obviously understanding why she suddenly got mad and stood still for a couple of minutes as she readjusted to standing on her own. As he looked around for her boots, his eye caught the small wound that was located on her ankle. When he removed her boots, he had noticed the wound and tended to it, but the bandage was almost falling off. "Sakura, I think you need to retie the bandage around your wound," he said as he pointed to her ankle.

Sakura looked down and then smiled gratefully as she sat down on the bed and unwrapped it to check how bad the wound was. Kimimaro spotted her boots and grabbed them, handing them over to Sakura as she finished retying the cloth. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," came the silent reply.

"How are you doing?" Sakura asked him as she stood up. "Are you well enough to go outside again?"

"I'm fine," Kimimaro curtly answered. "The nap was enough for me."

"Okay," she smiled at his back as he walked towards the door and opened it. Kimimaro stepped outside and she hesitated, but followed nonetheless. "… Where is Orochimaru-sama?"

"I don't know," Kimimaro replied blandly. "Sakon told me he left headquarters last night and that they don't know when Orochimaru-sama will be returning."

Sakura resisted the urge to breathe a sigh of relief and trailed behind Kimimaro as he walked through the long, underground corridor. Previously, she heard someone yelling and footsteps, but it was completely calm now and the only thing she could hear was their resounding footsteps.

"Kimimaro, where are we heading to?" she asked as he made a left instead of a right. "The exit is in the other direction."

"The voices were coming from the backyard, rather than the entrance."

"Ah." Apparently, she wasn't as replenished as she thought she had been. Normally, she'd have known which way to go in an instant, but even if she concentrated really hard, she could barely feel any other chakra levels around them.

They turned around another corner and she suddenly knew that there was something very wrong as one of the new members of Hakumei, Kin Tsuchi, was lying on the floor, cradling her arm. With her medically trained eye, she could easily see that her arm was broken. Although her instincts told her to go to her and help her out, her mind quickly reminded her that arms don't break on their own account and that the group that had been following them had probably done this to her.

Kimimaro, who stood protectively in front of her as always, had his hand resting on the hilt of his katana as he readied himself. "Be careful," he whispered quietly to her, facing the stairs that led to the backyard. Sakura exhaled quietly, grabbed a kunai from her pouch. Together, they stealthily approached the stairs, barely making a sound. Kimimaro turned around, and then mouthed something to her.

Although she could barely hear him, she understood that he'd go first and he wanted her to stay back unless he required back-up. Sakura swallowed, trying to remove the lump in her throat while nodding. He showed something that resembled the shadow of a smile, and then he was gone. She barely saw his feet touch the stone stairs.

"Ah, another one came out," she heard a voice say.

It was quiet for a moment, and then Kimimaro's soft voice called out. "Sakura, come."

Following his orders, she hastened towards the stairs and exited the building, firmly gripping her kunai. As she stepped out of the building, she saw most Hakumei members standing in front of her with Kabuto standing in the middle, acting as the leading figure now that Orochimaru was absent. Kimimaro stood closest to her and kept his eyes on something, or someone behind her.

As Sakura turned around, she knew this had to be bad.

Five men dressed in black cloaks with red clouds on them stood a few feet away from her; _Akatsuki_. One man stood in front of the other ones, with spiky reddish-brown hair and piercing grey eyes. The man next to him had long, blond hair, his bangs covering up one of his sky-blue eyes. He was smirking at her as she joined the other Hakumei members.

The man next to him was small and a straw hat prevented her from seeing his face. As she looked to the other side of the leader her eyes widened in shock, Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame both stood there, staring at her.

Kimimaro obviously felt her discomfort as he glanced at her, but decided not to say anything for the time being. Both parties observed each other, and finally, the leader of Akatsuki spoke up.

"Where is Orochimaru?" he asked in a deep, monotone voice.

"Your name is…Pein-san, right?" Kabuto answered, a smile ghosting over his lips as he pushed his glasses back to the bridge of his nose. "It seems he's absent for the time being."

"And you have no idea where he went to hmm?" the blond man answered, before Pein could even answer. He was still smirking and looking directly at Kabuto. "Great leader you have there…_Hakumei_…yeah."

Kisame grinned viciously, baring all of his teeth. "What do you expect? He has run away from us before."

"Enough," Pein said quietly, but in a dangerous tone as Deidara sniggered. "When will he be back?" he asked Kabuto softly.

"Unfortunately, he hasn't informed when he'll be returning," their surrogate leader answered. "Will that be all?"

Pein stared at Kabuto, apparently contemplating over something. Although he wasn't looking at her, the intensity in his eyes was almost unbearable. It felt as if they pierced right through everyone and read their minds. As she glanced to the other Hakumei members, she clearly saw Sakon feeling somewhat discomforted and Tayuya was looking in another direction, avoiding his gaze.

She blinked, and then he was gone from where he stood and suddenly right in front of Kabuto, holding a kunai to his throat. Both Pein and Kabuto were the same height, but it seemed as if Pein was much taller than Kabuto; much more intimidating. It frightened her how fast he had moved, and even more so because nobody in Hakumei had been quick enough to stop him.

Sakura watched Pein as he bent forward to meet Kabuto's eyes, not blinking even once. "We'll be close by, so when Orochimaru comes back, tell him we want to have a word with him. If he doesn't show up within twenty-four hours, we'll pay another visit and do something worse to your members than just break their arms." Then, he smirked and removed the kunai from Kabuto's throat.

"I'm afraid I don't follow orders very well," Kabuto remarked, obviously fearless of the intimidating man standing in front of him.

"Is that so?" Pein said softly.

Before Kabuto could answer him, Pein punched him in the stomach with abnormal speed, then turned around and moved back to the other Akatsuki members. Kabuto fell down to his knees and vomited; several Hakumei members backed away in disgust from their supposed leader.

"We'll be staying at the inn in the nearest village."

Then he turned away and the five of them left the backyard.

------------

After healing Kabuto and putting Tsuchi's bone back into place, she was permitted to return back to her room, where she lay on top of the thin mattress that she called her bed, inspecting the stone wall and the carvings she had made in it ever since she was a child.

Sakura smiled as she recognized the attempts to carve Kimimaro's face, smiling at her. Another carving illustrated her tries to recreate the Hokage mountain, but the only face she remembered properly was of the Third's, since she saw him walking around in the village once in a while.

He had been a kind man, smiling at everyone, cheering people up, complimenting her on her choice of flowers that she had bought for her mother's birthday. A few years ago, it seemed he had died because of Orochimaru. Kimimaro had been there too but refused to talk to her about Konoha; telling her it was for the best if she just forgot about her hometown.

She curled up in her bed, pulling the thin sheet over her shivering body in an attempt to stay warm as she looked at the last drawing she made. She had been proud of it when she was still a child but while growing up, she realized it wouldn't ever be able to match the brilliance of the image that she had in her mind.

Sakura wouldn't be able to carve the intensity of his blazing crimson eyes, or his short spiky hair that seemed so soft. The look in his eyes when he turned around and asked her whether she was alright was something she would never be able to forget and the smell of lingering fire and forest would forever haunt her and was the only scent that could ever comfort her.

Swallowing hard, she looked at her drawings until she was unable to handle it anymore and turned away, folding her hands together as she sobbed, quietly praying that Pein would kill Orochimaru and she would be free again.

-----------

_**A/N: **__Yes, is the answer to the question 'may we throw tomatoes at you for taking so long'. I'm very, truthfully, epically sorry that it took so long to update. For those who haven't read my author notes; I've been incredibly busy with school and such and to be honest, I'm kind of struggling to write more for the Naruto fandom, seeing as my love for the series is diminishing, which is heavily interfering with me being able to write at least a chapter a month._

_I do however, plan to finish this story one way or another, it might take weeks, it might take months, but I will finish it. I just need to get my muse out of his coma._

_For those who commented on the author note and can't review now because of it, you can still review anonymously!_

_Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!_

_Thank you Stem for betaing as always. You know we all love you!_

_See you next time!_

_-- MitsukiShiroi_


	3. Chapter 3

**Twilight – an Itachi & Sakura story.  
By: MitsukiShiroi**

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

_**A/N: **__I told you guys my next update would be faster, haha!_

**Chapter Three – Merciless**

The sun was beginning to rise; bright sunrays washed over the city, waking up the slumbering population. The only area not presently illuminated was the range of majestic mountains on the city's west end. The monoliths were still shrouded in shadow, their purple-hued peaks starkly outlined against the cloudless crimson sky.

Uchiha Itachi sat on top of the roof, his Akatsuki cloak draped around his shoulders to shield his body from the cold. Although his vision was not as clear as it had been a couple of years ago, he still enjoyed the calm and the beautiful scenery displayed in front of him.

On the building diagonally across from the inn sat Pein, faraway in thought as he bit on his thumb, contemplatively staring at the horizon as if the answers to his problems were written there.

Their leader was someone they were all afraid of, someone they would follow without questioning his reasoning, so when he told them they'd have to pay a visit to Hakumei's headquarters, the two teams that had been ordered to come along didn't even think of refusing the offer.

Although Pein was just a few years older than Itachi, he was the sole person in the entire world that Itachi respected. Perhaps it was for that reason that he so willingly joined Akatsuki: To seek new heights and to become stronger than the one he admired. Leaving the Uchiha clan had been one of the best decisions he had made in his young life.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Pein stand up and jump off the roof, probably to go back to his room and wait for Orochimaru's return. Itachi watched him as he landed on the ground and walked away.

-------------

Akatsuki had given them twenty-four hours. They gave their warning during twilight, which meant they had less than thirteen hours until Orochimaru had to return, otherwise they'd attack another Hakumei member and injure them more severely. If Hakumei fought back without Orochimaru, they'd be exterminated like little bugs.

Running away would be useless. Kabuto mentioned that they probably put Zetsu, their scout, on guard and that he'd warn Akatsuki if they tried to escape.

But if they returned and picked Kimimaro, who had been coughing up blood since the previous night and was extremely weakened, there was a chance that they might kill him. That thought alone was enough to drive her insane. Kimimaro was her life-support in Hakumei and the reason why she lived on.

"Oi," a familiar, rough voice called out. "Piece of trash."

Sakura looked up and faced Tayuya as she stood right in front of her, her hands on her hips, smirking. "Kabuto wants you to come over to the medical room. Apparently, Kimimaro has been asking for you."

She resisted the urge to punch the grin off Tayuya's face, knowing that it would stir problems with the other members of Hakumei. Instead she just pushed herself off the rock she was sitting on and walked to the entrance. As she stepped down towards the stairs, she turned around, still somewhat aggravated. "Tayuya!"

The redhead whirled around, obviously shocked that Sakura had said anything to her, seeing as the pink-haired kunoichi usually was silent and ignored most Hakumei members, except for Kimimaro. "What?" she yelled back, still grinning.

"If you call me trash again, I'll do to you what Pein did to Kabuto yesterday," Sakura said, emerald eyes blazing with both anger and hatred. Satisfied that Tayuya looked absolutely stunned after hearing what Sakura had to say, she made her way down the stairs and followed the long, dark tunnels, carefully making her way to the medical room through the maze that Orochimaru built underground.

As she took another right, she stumbled upon Tsuchi, whose arm was heavily bandaged. The dark-haired ninja looked up, but didn't say a word as Sakura passed her by and hurriedly left, undoubtedly scurrying off to her own room.

After turning around the corner, she stood in front of a large, oak door. Twin snakes were carved over each door, circling around each other, Orochimaru's symbol. Sakura observed the snakes in disgust, then extended a hand and pushed the doors open.

The lights inside the room were blinding and she took a moment to adjust her eyes to the bright light as she stepped inside, walking towards the bed in which Kimimaro lay. Next to the bed, Kabuto sat behind a desk, apparently going through medical files that belonged to the Kaguya.

"He's been asking for you," Kabuto said, not even looking up from the paperwork. "He fell asleep a while ago, but he should be awake in a short while."

Sakura nodded, grabbed one of the wooden chairs that stood next to the desk and sat down beside Kimimaro's bed, watching his chest as it rose and fell every time he took a breath. "Is he still coughing up blood?"

"It stopped quite a while ago," came the quiet reply.

"And Orochimaru-sama?"

"Nowhere to be found."

She remained silent, touching Kimimaro's hand for a moment, hoping that he could feel that she was there as she calmly watched over him. Behind her, she sometimes heard Kabuto turning a page or making some sounds as if he were reading something interesting. "What happens if he's not here when Akatsuki returns?"

The silence that followed indicated that he was thinking about his answer. "Most likely, they'll torture one of our members, perhaps even kill them. Resistance would be…"

"Futile."

"Futile, but needed if they attack us. We won't stand by and watch them exterminate our members," he answered calculatingly, "even without Orochimaru-sama, we can at least fight back."

"What if they target one of the Genin?" she asked calmly, thinking the entire situation over. "Will we fight back either way, or just when they attack the stronger members of Hakumei?"

Finally, he looked up from his files and stared directly at her. "We won't sacrifice our stronger men if they pick out one of the Genin. They're easily replaceable."

The cold words slapped her in the face and momentarily, she breathed a sigh of relief as she realized she was still Chuunin-leveled and that the only ones who were in immediate danger were the three younger members of Hakumei. But then again, there was no guarantee that Pein wouldn't skip the Genin and start working on the more experienced and tougher members of the organization.

She nodded at Kabuto and he started perusing through his files again, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Kimimaro was still sound asleep and she was grateful for that. Sometimes it seemed that every time he opened his eyes, he was suffering greatly.

It was strange how she wasn't concerned about her own life. She didn't own her own life after Orochimaru took her away from Konoha anyway. It was Kimimaro she was more concerned about.

Abruptly, she stood up and excused herself, telling Kabuto that she'd be back once Kimimaro had awakened. The grey-haired man nodded, not expressing any interest in her departure as she hastily left. She closed the snake carved doors behind her as she quickly dashed through the long hallways that were scarcely lit by the torches that hung on the walls.

Moments later, she stepped out of the building, inhaling the fresh air that she so desperately needed after the thick and maddening scent of medicine and blood that clung to the walls of the medical room.

Sakura took a moment to calm down, and then walked towards the hill that was located several feet away from Hakumei's headquarters and climbed it until she stood on the top. From this point, she could see the mountain range in the distance and the small village that was built in the valley.

"_We'll be staying at the inn in the nearest village."_

An image of Kimimaro lying in his bed, inhaling through a machine that Kabuto had concocted passed through her mind. She had to try, for Kimimaro's sake and for her sanity. Sakura didn't care about the rest of the Hakumei members, but Kimimaro was there and he was her only friend. She'd get on her knees and beg before the other Akatsuki members if that meant letting Kimimaro live. Even if they'd kill her, at least she tried.

If she left now, she could be in the inn before time was up.

Without even thinking twice, she descended the hill, then started sprinting to the small village that bathed in the sun's light, knowing that in one of these small houses, Akatsuki was resting up and preparing for confrontation.

---------------

"Can I help you?" the man behind the desk said, looking positively bored as a pink-haired girl stood in front of him, panting severely, as if she had been running the marathon.

"Yesterday, a group of five arrived here. I need to talk to one of them."

The man glanced at her suspiciously, obviously not comfortable with giving out information about his customers. He leaned over the desk to get a good look at her. "Why would I hand out such information to you?"

In a flash, she pulled out a kunai and held it against his throat. "You'll give me the information unless you'd like to be skewered by me."

"…Rooms five, six and seven," the man uttered, looking as if he was about to pee his pants as she pressed the blade of the kunai against his skin. As soon as she released him, he backed away and stumbled over his chair, falling on the wooden floor. By the time he had gotten back up again, the girl was gone and a man with red hair and a serene smile stood next to his desk, observing him as he tried to regain his composure.

"Can I help you?" he asked the man, embarrassed that he had seen what had happened.

"No," came the curt answer, and as redhead walked away, he noticed the small folded piece of cloth under his arms, and the red cloud gracing it.

----------------

Sakura halted in front of room five, contemplating over which Akatsuki member she might encounter in the room, but it didn't matter at all. All she needed to do was speak to Pein. It didn't matter whether she spoke to him directly or if she had to ask another Akatsuki member to relay the message.

Hesitating, she lifted her hand up to knock.

"He's not there," a soft, male voice told her.

She turned around quickly, grabbing a kunai in the process. In front of her was a man with short, fiery red hair and eyes similar to his hair color, but just a tad darker. He was smiling at her, but she didn't let her guard down. His smile wasn't friendly and the air was filled with killing intent. "Who are you?"

"They call me Sasori," he replied calmly. "I believe we met yesterday, when we paid your headquarters a visit."

Although she was certain she had never seen him before, she reminded herself that she had no idea what the person next to the blond man looked like, so that could have been him. "I need to speak to your leader," she answered him, still holding her kunai firmly in front of her, prepared for him.

"I already told you, he's not there," he softly replied.

"Where is he then?" Sakura queried, lowering her kunai a little as she realized he wouldn't be attacking her any time soon.

Sasori cocked his head, still wearing that smile, observing her as if she was a child who was longing for a piece of candy and he was holding it just beyond her reach. "He's outside, talking with Itachi and Kisame. But before you leave, may I ask you why you're here?"

"I have some information about Orochimaru and I'm willing to trade that out in order to save someone's life," Sakura responded.

"You're a brave kunoichi," Sasori said as he turned around. "Especially considering you obviously don't care about your own life."

"It was taken away from me a long time ago," she said to his back.

He looked over his shoulder, giving her a knowing look before answering. "I see."

Then he turned around completely. "Since you came all this way, it would be rude for me to kill you now without letting you talk to our leader. Follow me; I'll take you to him."

She stood still, listening to the cheerful voices in a room close to her as she watched Sasori's back, contemplating on whether to follow him or not. He might kill her the moment they stepped outside and she might never be able to relay her message to Pein. On the other side, if Pein really was gone, Sasori was her only hope to find him.

"You can ponder if you want to trust me or not," Sasori's serene voice drifted through the air. "But either way, you're about to die. If you don't follow me and talk to Leader, there's no guarantee you'll survive the next attack and if you decide to come along, Leader might kill you if he doesn't find you useful."

"…But," she started, but he interrupted her, holding a hand up. For the first time, she noticed that there was something wrong with it. It resembled a human hand, but it definitely looked different. Sakura opened her mouth to say something to him, but as she watched, he suddenly seemed to disappear into thin air, reappearing a few inches away from her a mere second later.

Startled, she raised her kunai again, but he just shot her a look that suggested aggravation as he loudly knocked on the door of room five, calling out to Pein. They both listened to the door, but nobody opened. Before Sakura could even say anything, he moved past her and stalked to the other side of the hallway, knocking on the door of room six, calling out Pein's name again.

Again, there was no answer.

"Sasori-san… I believe you so let's just look for him," she said softly while pocketing her kunai, fidgeting uncomfortably as Sasori walked towards the last room.

"He might have returned in the meanwhile, no?" Sasori answered curtly, banging on the last door forcefully. "If he's not here, then we'll go looking for him immediately. I hate waiting."

Then, the door opened and revealed the blond man she had seen the previous day. He wasn't wearing his Akatsuki uniform anymore, just a simple black shirt that seemed to be made out of a silky material and some black pants. "Ah, Sasori no danna. Kisame was just looking for you. It seems he wanted to ask you a few questions…yeah."

The blond then seemed to realize there was another person and peered over Sasori's shoulder, observing her momentarily. He smirked then. "Your new girlfriend?"

"Hakumei," Sasori said to him, and the expression on the face of the other man changed considerably. She could clearly see his eyes growing more alert as he glanced at her again.

"And she's here because…?"

Sasori turned around, facing Sakura. "She wants to talk to Leader."

The man laughed then, obviously amused, but it wasn't a pleasant laugh. "Talk about what?"

"I have some information concerning Orochimaru-sama that Kabuto didn't want to hand out to you," Sakura spoke up, confidently.

He stepped towards her and she stood completely still as he reached out and grabbed her chin, moving her head from right to left as if he was inspecting his meat before devouring it. "What's your name, kunoichi?" he finally asked, still grinning.

"Haruno Sakura."

"Deidara," he said in return, relinquishing his hold on her chin. "What do you want in return for that information?"

"I'll discuss that with Pein-san," she said, feeling a bit uncomfortable under his intense scrutiny, but standing her ground. Even if she talked to the other Akatsuki members, they couldn't be trusted to give the information through to their leader in exchange for Kimimaro's safety.

"You wish to save someone's life, isn't that right?" Sasori questioned from behind Deidara. The blond looked over his shoulder, and Sasori said something else but she couldn't hear what he had said. Her eyes trailed off to the small necklace that hung around Deidara's neck, studying the intricate patterns on the small medallion.

"He is on the roof…yeah," Deidara finally said, his sky-blue eye still fixed on her eyes, as he tried to distinguish whether she was telling the truth, or lying about knowing things about Orochimaru. "We'll take you there. But any sudden movement, such as grabbing a kunai or even reaching out to the hilt of that lovely katana of yours and we'll be forced to step in. Understood…hm?"

She nodded her head, closing her kunai pouch in the process. Deidara seemed satisfied by this and faced Sasori. "Perhaps you should go ahead and warn Leader. He likes you more than me…yeah."

The redhead blinked, then walked away to the far end of the hallway, slid open a shoji screen and then stepped outside.

"Don't worry," Deidara said then, surprising her as she looked up to meet his gaze. "Leader is a very reasonable man. I don't know what you want for that kind of information, but if it helps us, he'll definitely let you live...yeah."

Sakura nodded again, her insides twisting uncomfortably as she thought about the fact that he might know everything she could tell him and that she would be killed by him in a few minutes. She started sweating, but if Deidara noticed anything, he never made a remark about it. "Let's go," he said, grabbing her shoulder as he pushed her in front of him.

Together, they walked towards the same shoji door that Sasori had passed moments before and the next thing they knew, they stood outside again. Sakura was able to breathe again, inhaling deeply as she tried to calm herself down a little. The blond instructed her to jump up on top of the well that stood a few feet to their right, and from there on, they made their way to the roof.

As soon as they landed, Sakura spotted both Kisame and Itachi sitting on the top of the roof, merely glancing at her. Sasori stood a little lower on the other side of the roof, and from where she stood, she saw him talking to someone who sat a little father away.

_Pein_, she immediately realized, glancing up to Deidara to see what she should do, but his hand around her shoulder kept her firmly in place as he stared at Sasori, waiting for some kind of sign.

Then Sasori beckoned and Deidara whispered quietly. "He wants to see you."

He let go of her shoulder and pushed her forwards. Breathing heavily, she climbed to the top of the roof, not even sparing a glance at Itachi and Kisame as she passed them by, and then descended towards Sasori and the figure of Pein who sat there with his back turned towards her, watching the horizon calmly.

"Sasori told me you had information pertaining Orochimaru," Pein said, his voice seemingly completely emotionless.

"I do," she whispered in return, her voice hoarse.

"What do you want in return?" he said, pushing himself to his feet, still not facing her.

"Yesterday…" she swallowed, suddenly finding herself unable to speak up. Mentally admonishing herself, Sakura worked up the nerve to continue, even as the pleasant evening breeze that passed by turned into a gust of icy wind in the matter of a few seconds. The air filled with killing intent. "Yesterday you told Kabuto that you would come back today and hurt our members more."

"You want us to leave the other members alone?" he whispered softly as he turned around, grey finding green.

"No," she said, obviously surprising Pein as he raised an eyebrow, interested. "I want you to leave one of the members alone. The one I'm referring to is Kaguya Kimimaro."

"Orochimaru's protégé…" he softly pondered, stepping closer towards her. "Interesting."

She breathed heavily as he closed in and stopped right in front of her, forcing her to look up if she wanted to meet his piercing gaze. "My deal sounds fair, doesn't it?" she said, resolve blazing in her eyes.

"It does," he admitted. "Nobody will touch the boy if your information is helpful to us. If not…" his voice trailed off, but she understood exactly what he meant by that statement. If her information wasn't helpful, they would kill him just to spite her. Sakura licked her dry and chapped lips, nodding in understanding.

"Hakumei has five other headquarters. Orochimaru occasionally goes out to check on every one of them, get some more information and is back within a few weeks. He usually goes on trips like these, twice, maybe three times a year."

"Where are these other headquarters situated?" Pein asked, interrupting her calmly.

"Near Otogakure, Sunagakure, Kirigakure, Kumogakure and Konohagakure," she answered hurriedly. "I overheard him telling Kabuto that the headquarters are placed there because it's easier for him to capture some ANBU member from that region and interrogate them about the latest developments inside of the village."

"And you know the exact position of these bases?"

"Yes," Sakura said with conviction.

"If we show you a map, you could point it out?"

"Yes," she repeated.

"Sasori," he called out and a moment later, she heard someone dashing away, most probably getting a map.

"If you'd like, I could give you some information about Hakumei," Sakura offered, unsure whether her information up till now would be enough to ensure Kimimaro's safety. Pein looked down at her, and she attempted to read his eyes, but they were complete blanks.

"It should take us little more than thirty minutes to find out whether you are handing out information that helps us," Pein said calmly. "If this information is correct, the boy will be saved. I doubt there is anything you could tell us about your fellow members that we don't already know."

Then suddenly, the cold air around her seemed to disappear, as if he finally let go of his intentions to kill her on the spot as he motioned for her to sit down. Seconds later, Sasori reappeared right in front of her, carrying a map.

"Give us the location of the base near Konoha," Pein instructed and then told one of the Akatsuki members to get Zetsu. Realizing that Kabuto was probably right about the Akatsuki member placed as a guard near the Hakumei headquarters, she heaved a sigh of relief that he actually let her enter the city.

Sakura perused the map for a while and then located the exact position of the base. She had been there once when she was still a little child, but she could remember that it was directly in the middle of an open field in the forest near the borders of the country of Fire and the country of River. "It's here," she said, grabbing Pein's attention as she pointed the place out.

"And you're sure?" his monotone voice asked her.

"Absolutely."

At that moment, a figure jumped on top of the roof, his body nearly completely encased in a plant akin to a Venus fly trap. His face was half black, half white and his eyes looked like two yellow, glowing circles. He stepped towards her and Pein and although she wanted to crawl away, she realized by looking at his clothing that he was another Akatsuki members; Zetsu, most probably.

"Show Zetsu the location," Pein said.

She turned the map around to show Zetsu, and then pointed out the location again. Sakura looked up to find Zetsu nodding, and then looked up to Pein expectedly. "Go to that location, verify if there's a base and whether Orochimaru is present there or not, then come back. If you can't find Orochimaru before sunset, come back."

"Yes sir," Zetsu muttered, jumping off the roof. From afar, she could see him land on the ground and watched him as he sank into the ground.

It was quiet for a moment, and then Pein crouched down, staring at Sakura with his intense gaze, as if he was trying to find the answers to his questions on her forehead. She resisted the childish urge to bury her head in her hands, not wanting to look at him as he spoke up. "Go back to your headquarters kunoichi."

Her mouth nearly fell open as she looked up to meet his eyes. "But I need to stay here, to wait for verification!"

The corners of Pein's mouth turned upward for a split second. "It would be best for you to return to your rightful place. If word gets out that you betrayed Orochimaru, you'll be killed by them."

"What about Kimimaro?" she asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"As promised, we'll leave him alone if your information proves to be correct. But for now, I'd like you to point out the other locations of the bases and go back to Hakumei," he explained curtly.

She nodded and quickly pointed out the other locations as Pein marked them with senbon. Sakura was about to stand up and leave when all five Akatsuki members around her suddenly turned around, facing a certain direction. Confused, she looked into the same direction to see if she could find anything, but the area seemed as calm as usual.

"…What's wrong?" she whispered quietly to herself, but Pein answered.

"Zetsu got attacked."

The brown-haired man then faced her, his grey eyes searching for something she could not comprehend, then he flicked his hand and beckoned Itachi and Kisame from somewhere behind her. "Change of plans," he said quietly. "It seems your information is correct, so we'll leave the boy alone."

"But we'll take you with us," Pein continued, ignoring the scared look in her eyes. "Itachi, take her to your room and guard her. Deidara, Sasori, you will go to Hakumei and eliminate everybody inside. The only person you shall spare is the boy with white hair. Knock him unconscious and bring him to this town."

Sakura's eyes widened as she heard the orders and looked over her shoulder to see Sasori and Deidara nodding and jumping off the roof. "What about Orochimaru?" she asked softly.

Pein looked at her, and for the first time, the corners of his mouth seemed to turn into a half-smile, obviously amused. "You don't care about the others?"

"No," Sakura answered truthfully. "But…what do you want with me?"

"I'm sure we can make good use of you and your abilities," he answered flatly.

She hadn't anticipated this. The worst case scenario was that she would be killed, but then everything would be over. No more thoughts about the fresh Konoha air, or her mother's smile or Sasuke's back. She didn't want to be used by another criminal organization.

But before she could even protest, someone hit a pressure point near the back of her neck with frightening precision, and everything turned dark as she fell down towards the tiled roof.

-------------

When she woke up again, she was lying in a futon, clutching the duvet that covered her desperately. Cold sweat streamed down her forehead, dripping onto the pillow. Sakura attempted to look around surreptitiously, but as soon as she moved her head just a little, she heard someone stir behind her.

"You're awake," Itachi's calm, deep voice drifted through the air.

"Where are we?"

"Near Sound," he answered.

"Kimimaro?"

"We left him behind in the inn we were staying," Itachi said softly. "He is alive."

"The others?"

"Dead. Deidara and Sasori blew up your headquarters."

"Oh," she breathed out, not even caring that the others had died. "Orochimaru?"

"Escaped."

For a glorious moment she had hoped he had died and that the large threat that seemed to hover above her head was finally gone, but it was still there and even more threatening now that Akatsuki decided to take her with them. _'But they don't know about Orochimaru's threats,' _the little voice inside her whispered excitedly. _'If they kill Orochimaru, there's a chance you might be able to escape!'_

Allowing that thought to fill her up for a moment filled her with refreshed hope. Sakura moved around in her futon so that she could face Itachi.

He was sitting a few feet away from her, leaning against the wall in a nonchalant manner, his hands folded in his lap, watching her every movement with those blood-red eyes, his mouth an unreadable line. Strangely enough, it suddenly struck her just how dangerous he was. A few nights ago, she deemed every attempt of escape from her life to be impossible and had resigned herself to the fact that she would die serving that cold-blooded snake, but Akatsuki had given her new hope. She had to survive this.

"Will I be killed?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Itachi didn't respond but he didn't need to. The answer, for once, was written in his eyes.

------------

_**A/N: **Whew, this came as a surprise to me! It's been a while since a chapter felt so easy to write!_

_So, Hakumei is nearly entirely exterminated, save Kimimaro, Sakura and Orochimaru! I wonder if anyone knows where we'll be going from now on, haha._

_Love to Stem for betaing this chapter as always!_

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you next time!_

_-- MitsukiShiroi_


	4. Chapter 4

**Twilight – an Itachi & Sakura story.**

**By: MitsukiShiroi**

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

_**A/N: **__Konan's name was given to her in the latest Naruto chapter (368)_

**Chapter Four – Friendless**

Itachi and Kisame both had been assigned guard duty and were watching her around the clock. Even as she slept, one of them was sitting there, watching vigilantly over her. Kisame would always hold his sword within reach, grinning at her with that despicable smirk of his as he undoubtedly imagined attacking her.

Itachi would sit quietly, barely talking unless spoken to. His attention was apparently on other things besides watching over her, but he was as alert as Kisame was, if not even more so. She made a sudden movement once and before she realized it, he had already grabbed a kunai and was ready to attack her, his crimson eyes narrowed.

No matter how dangerous he was though, she found that she felt safer with him around than Kisame and rather looked forward to the shift change, when Kisame would stand up and make room for the Uchiha.

A week had passed by since she had woken up in the inn that lay just a couple of miles away from Hakumei's underground base in Sound. She had learned that she was put to sleep for two days while they traveled, ensuring that she wouldn't try anything during the nights they slept outside. They kept her inside the inn at all times, only letting her out of her room when she needed to use the bathroom or get something to eat. When she asked Itachi about it, he only told her it was needed to protect Akatsuki's secrets from her.

It didn't matter much anyway. If her hunch was right, Pein would kill her right after he found out that he had no use for her anymore. It was a strange thought that continued to haunt her as days past by, but not surprising.

She had only seen him once or twice during her week with Akatsuki. He came in once with a severely wounded Zetsu, and ordered her to heal him. It took her three full days but she succeeded in healing him and apparently pleased Pein. The second time he came in with a detailed map of Sound, instructing her to pinpoint the exact location of Hakumei's base as they were unable to find it.

Sakura exhaled softly as she slouched in the thin window frame of one of the stained windows of her room, inspecting the peeling paint on the frame. In the reflection, she could see Itachi sitting just a few feet away, his right knee propped up and his elbow resting on it. He seemed to be examining something on his right, not even watching her.

Evidently, he felt her eyes on him as he shot her a glance, causing her to hastily look away and watch the scenery outside. It had been raining for days now and puddles of water had started to form on the ground. "Itachi-san?" she called out softly.

There was no answer, but she knew she had his attention. "Why did you join Akatsuki?" she questioned – a miserable attempt to make conversation.

A short pause – she was about to take her words back, understanding that he might not want to talk about that when he answered. "To attain new heights."

She turned around to face him. "Why?"

He was still sitting on the same spot on the floor, leaning against the wall. His eyes nearly pierced through her as he scrutinized her. It had become a sport for her to try and read him as he gazed at her like that. She tried to uncover one of the many emotions that had to be racing through his mind like it did with any other human being, but he was a master in covering them all up.

"I wanted to see what I was capable of," Itachi finally answered, his eyes betraying nothing.

Sakura watched him for a little longer, her eyes examining his face for a while. Although he had first struck her as someone in his late twenties, she realized that he wasn't much older than her.

'_It's the lines,'_ she thought. _'They age him.'_

"How old are you?" Sakura questioned, not knowing what else to ask him.

"Twenty-three," he replied curtly.

'_Five years.'_

She nodded and returned to looking out of the window. "I'm eighteen," Sakura said, although she knew he wouldn't care about her age. Itachi said nothing in return, but she hadn't expected an answer anyway.

The rain was a mere drizzle now. "Why do you like the rain?"

Again, she didn't expect him to reply, which was why she was shocked to hear him answer calmly. "It's soothing."

Smiling softly, she didn't look at him, because his answer had sounded human and calm. Yet, when she looked at him, the illusion broke and she was reminded that his face was like a mask, hiding away what he was truly thinking while saying those words.

"Is Pein-san merciful?" she asked, thinking about her imminent death. It could be any day now, that they would find Orochimaru and fight against him. Then she'd be there to heal the injured Akatsuki members and once it was over, Pein would kill her. It was plain as day and bitter to accept, but there was no way she'd be able to escape from her death this time.

'_At least Pein doesn't threaten your mother,' _a small voice inside her remarked.

Itachi made a sound, almost amused. "He will be to you," he offered coolly, though his words weren't a comfort at all.

Vaguely, she wondered if the Akatsuki members were afraid of him. He was a man that showed absolutely no mercy if there wasn't anything in it for him – she had realized that over the past couple of days. Pein was the kind of man that disliked being restricted to a village. Perhaps Itachi was similar to him. Or maybe…

"Are you afraid of him?" she asked out loud, immediately regretting her question.

Sakura turned around again, facing him as he stared blankly at her, a small smirk playing around his lips, but not quite touching his eyes. Itachi then slowly closed his eyelids, raising his hand to touch his eyes. "These eyes, my eyes, they do not know what fear is, because they've never seen it."

"You don't see fear," Sakura whispered softly, swallowing hard as he reopened his eyes. "You feel it."

"The concept of fear is foreign to me." Itachi looked at her with interest, his crimson eyes vivid as they bored into her.

"You've never feared for anything?" Sakura asked, eyes widening in disbelief. "You never feared that you might die during a mission? Or that something would happen to the ones you lo…"

"Love?" Itachi finished the sentence for her. His intense eyes didn't relinquish her gaze, but held her captive as he leaned forward slightly, searching something in her eyes. "You think me as capable of loving someone?"

"What about your family?" she quietly asked.

"I killed them."

Sakura leaned back against the window, her bare shoulders touching the cool window. "All of them?"

"All but one," he answered blandly, watching her grow uncomfortable under his scrutiny. He was like a wild animal, a hunter that watched his prey move around and strike when the time was right. He was awaiting the question she so desperately wanted answered, but she wouldn't give it to him. Not yet.

"Sasuke," she said, forcing herself to look him squarely in the eye, showing him that she was more than a prey for his sick little mind games.

"Sasuke," he repeated calmly. For one instance, it occurred to her that she loved the way he pronounced his brother's name – how it so simply rolled off his lips in that deep, monotone voice of his. Itachi was still waiting for the inevitable question. She could see it so clearly in his eyes, as if he wanted her to know.

"Sasuke," she said, letting the memories of his distinct scent and the warmth of his back envelop her again for a moment. "Sasuke saved my life."

Itachi was quiet. She was satisfied with his attention and continued. "I tried to escape from a criminal Hakumei was tracking one day. Kimimaro was on the other side of the town and couldn't have known I was in danger. Had Sasuke arrived just a moment later, I wouldn't have been here."

"Sasuke is a failure," Itachi said. She wasn't sure whether he was taunting her or speaking the truth as far as his feelings were concerned. "He is weak."

"No," Sakura said with conviction, protecting the man of her memories. "No. He's not a failure. If he were, I wouldn't be sitting here. He saved my life that day with ease."

_He turned around to face her, his white kimono stained with blood of the ninja he had just murdered. Wordlessly, he regarded her as her legs suddenly buckled under her weight and she dropped down to her knees._

_The boy sheathed his bloodied katana and as everything around her started to fade away, she felt his hands around her wrists, picking her up as he carried her on his back and took her away._

Itachi leaned back against the wall, apparently interested in what she had to say, but she didn't speak anymore. Those memories belonged to her and her alone. To share them would mean nothing as Itachi would never understand her feelings. The feeling of being saved by someone when you're so afraid that you can barely move and the memories that lingered afterwards – all of those things were foreign to Itachi.

When she first met him, she was attracted and scared at the same time. All she felt now was pity.

He never relinquished his gaze and was regarding her with interest. "You've stopped."

"Stopped what?" she queried softly, meeting his eyes with ease now.

"Stopped being afraid."

Sakura chuckled softly, feeling strangely worn out. "I think I pity you," she said with absolutely no hesitation, smiling all the while.

One moment he was still sitting on the floor, regarding her quizzically, the next he was standing next to her. His long, strong fingers were wrapped around her neck, not quite pushing, but enough to be threatening.

"Will you kill me?" she asked him, emerald meeting crimson.

It didn't matter if he killed her, she told herself. It was Itachi, or Pein. Perhaps Kisame, Deidara or Sasori. But Akatsuki would be the end of her, she realized in dull acceptance.

He was standing so close to her that she could see his long lashes that framed his captivating eyes. Itachi's lips were set in a straight line, not betraying anything, whether it was annoyance or not. For a moment, she realized again why she had found him so attractive, but banished the thought into a far corner of her mind. "Will you kill me?" she asked again, smiling at him this time.

Itachi tilted his head as if she was an object that he could turn around, turn inside out and learn everything about. Then the corners of his mouth turned up into a smirk for a fleeting instant. "No."

"Are you afraid of Pein?" she repeated her earlier question as her gaze wandered towards the necklace he was wearing – a simple black lace with three silver flowers on it.

"I do not fear anything or anyone," he said as he released her throat, and cupped her chin between thumb and forefinger, forcing her to look him in the eye. "I do not wish to fulfill your wishes."

"What do you know about my wishes?"

"You wish to die."

Emerald eyes widened as his smirk intensified, then he let go of her and strode back to the corner in which he had sat during the entire evening. The conversation was over and Itachi had won their little game.

----------------

Kisame had the annoying habit to eat his meals in front of her, his eyes constantly fixed on her small frame as he devoured his food with his razor sharp teeth. Afterwards, he'd caress his sword with affection, all the while grinning viciously as his grey fingers traced the lines of the fabric wrapped around the blade.

She didn't need much time to figure out what he was thinking of.

Resisting the urge to inspect his weapon as she had done many times before, she looked out of the window from her usual spot on the window frame. To her surprise, she saw Pein and another person, female by the looks of it, entering the small unkempt gardens that belonged to the inn.

Pein apparently noticed her as he looked directly into her direction and held her gaze for a moment before nodding almost imperceptibly. Sakura nodded back and watched him as he entered the inn, the blue-haired woman following him calmly, unfazed by the heavy rainfall.

Moments later, Itachi entered the gardens as well and strode towards the entrance, undoubtedly knowing she was watching him, but he never looked up.

Both Sasori and Deidara entered the moment Itachi stepped inside of the inn, apparently bickering over something. Deidara was saying something to Sasori, punctuating the remark with a sharp wave of his hand, looking absolutely frustrated. Sasori on the other hand, looked as calm as ever, except for the fact that his usual calm smile was gone and now made place for something akin to a scowl.

They suddenly stopped in their tracks and turned around as someone apparently called out to them.

A man with slicked back silver hair and a dark-pink scythe walked towards them. Another hooded man followed him, his face obscured by a small piece of cloth. Both were dressed in Akatsuki cloaks.

The silver-haired man said something, a smirk playing on his lips as he talked to Deidara. The hooded man then apparently spoke up, as all three heads turned into his direction, then he held up his hand and made the unmistakable gesture for money.

Deidara shrugged, pointed at Sasori, then turned on his heels and hastily walked away, ignoring whatever the silver-man called after him.

The three of them conversed for a moment longer, then started to walk towards the inn's entrance and closed the door behind them.

"Akatsuki meeting?" she asked in wonder, turning to meet Kisame's horrific face.

He grinned, baring his teeth. "Yes."

"And you're not invited?"

"I am," Kisame answered, pushing himself off the ground. "Stay put now," he warned her, that sickening grin still plastered on his face. "We don't want to chase after you, you know."

With that, he heaved his large sword on his back, then walked towards the door and stepped out. A last glance was cast into her direction, accompanied by a trademark smirk, then the door closed.

She sat still on her place for a moment, knowing he'd still be standing outside the door, just waiting for her to try and escape. Sakura turned back to looking out of the window, just in time to see another man enter. This one wasn't clothed in Akatsuki clothes, just a simple black outfit. The one thing that did catch her attention was the bright-orange mask he wore, with lines spiraling to the place where his right eye should be.

Judging by the way he moved he looked as if he wasn't a shinobi, but the kunai holster on his leg and the pouch secured to his belt told her he was. He stopped halfway through the gardens and looked up as if he were searching for something. As the man turned to her, he held her gaze for a moment, as if he were speechless. The masked man then proceeded to lift his arm and waved enthusiastically towards her.

Momentarily stunned, she waved back politely and watched him as he bowed to her and hastily walked towards the inn, tripping over a small piece of stone that stuck out of the muddy road.

Giggling at the man's expense, she tensed as she heard the calm and steady sound of footsteps walking away from the room, undoubtedly Kisame. She glanced at the door, unsure of what to do next.

Zetsu was gone to scout the areas around the other Hakumei bases to see if Orochimaru could be located again, the remaining Akatsuki members were having a meeting and she was left alone. It was undoubtedly a test. Probably to see if she would run when she had the opportunity or if she'd do the wise thing and stay put.

'_Does it matter?' _the voice inside her head whispered. _'Does it matter whether you get caught? Pein will kill you either way, he'll just do it sooner if you go now.'_

Eyes widening as she thought this over, she inspected the gardens outside. The gate to the outside world wasn't that far away, and she could definitely sneak out of the inn without being caught. Orochimaru trained her in being stealthy after all.

Her heart started to beat erratically as she pushed herself off the window frame and her feet landed on the wooden floor. Sakura stood still for a moment after straightening herself, listening if she could hear anything, but the corridor outside was completely quiet. Even as she tried to sense whether there were some chakra levels outside, there was nothing to pick up and she had to conclude that the section of where her room lay was abandoned.

Sakura crept towards the shoji door and slid it open calmly, attempting to open it completely without making too much sound. Her heart was beating so hard that she feared they would be able to hear it if she had to sneak past the room they were in.

She walked as calmly as she could, glancing around the corner before softly turning, trying her hardest to make as little sound as possible as she walked down the stairs towards the central hall.

The receptionist was reading the paper, hardly paying her any attention as she turned to the left after descending down the stairs, intending to walk out of the inn through the backdoor.

One long corridor crossed hers, and she stopped near the corner, surreptitiously glancing to her right first, finding it abandoned, but as she turned to observe the left, she could hear a deep male voice. "Kakuzu, I'm telling you, Pein will get upset if you don't come back to the meeting right now."

Another gruff voice came from somewhere close to her. Shocked, she fell back a pace, thanking whatever god was watching over her for the carpet in the hallway that muffled her step. "All right," the man said. "Let's go then."

Praying that they wouldn't head into her direction, she waited for one long moment, her heart pounding so hard that it felt as if it would beat right out of her chest. But no one came and as she made her way to the corner and peered around the wall, she could just see two Akatsuki members turn around the corner on the other side of the hallway.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she crossed the hallway, made her way to the door, turning around to make sure she wasn't watched and slid the door open.

She could taste the sweet victory of making it out of the inn and resisted the urge to laugh out loud, knowing it could attract attention as she turned around and slowly slid the door shut. Yet, as she turned around, the victorious smirk that had formed on her lips quickly faded away.

Pein stood a foot away from her, leaning casually against the fence as he lifted his hand to the sky. He watched her stop in her tracks with interest, the corners of his mouth quirked into a smirk.

They stood like that for a moment longer. Sakura as a wild animal poised for flight while Pein kept his piercing eyes on her, his hand still in the air. Then, it stopped raining and Pein looked up in satisfaction, lowering his arm. "Good morning Sakura," he said, obviously amused.

"Good morning Pein-san…" she said, barely audible.

"Walk with me," he said, stretching out his hand to point out to the brick road that lead back to the gardens she had been observing throughout the entire morning.

She swallowed hard and followed him as he hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his pants and walked away. As she watched his back, she realized he wasn't wearing his Akatsuki cape this time around and looked much smaller without it.

Pein stopped and turned around, his face betraying nothing more than sheer amusement. "I said with, not behind me."

Sakura nodded and stepped forward to fall into pace beside him as he calmly strolled on. He steered her around a corner and never said a word until they reached the main garden – undoubtedly being quiet until he was completely sure she was uncomfortable and feeling miserable. "Kisame underestimates you," he then said, his deep monotone voice drifting over the small, cool breeze that passed by.

"Is that so?" she asked, not daring to look him in the eye.

"He told me he thought you'd try to escape immediately if we left you alone," Pein continued ruthlessly. "Itachi however said that you'd be calm and wait until you were sure Kisame was out of the vicinity. He also mentioned you probably wouldn't care about being caught."

She felt his intense gaze on her face. "I see Itachi was half-wrong. You seem embarrassed."

Sakura snorted. "I was trained by Orochimaru and assumed I was being stealthy. This seems like a direct insult towards my shinobi abilities."

Pein was quiet for a mere second and laughed shortly. "You're an amusing kunoichi."

"I'm glad I'm such a source of entertainment for you," she said calmly, not caring that she was being rude. For one glorious moment she had believed she could escape and make her way back to Konoha. And if that didn't happen, Pein would kill her for trying to escape. But he only seemed amused by her failed attempt and wasn't planning to kill her anytime soon.

She wondered what he'd do if she'd attack him; what he'd do if she picked a kunai from her pocket and threw it to him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Pein answered calmly.

Then she wondered whether he could read thoughts.

"No," he said, glancing back at her face.

She stopped in her tracks, causing Pein to stop as well. His fingers were still hooked in his pockets, giving him a nonchalant look as he turned around and cocked his head, watching her, waiting for her to start her barrage of questions.

"What do you want from me, _Pein_?" Sakura asked, her voice filled with tightly reined anger, not caring that she was being impolite. "I gave you the locations, I healed Zetsu for you. Now let me go or kill me, but don't lock me up in a room while your little dogs watch over me."

"What I want," he said, moving forward quickly, forcefully grabbing her wrist, holding it up so that she could see her own hand. "What I want is this. I want your hands. Because these hands can do what no Akatsuki member can do."

"Look feminine?" she retorted with ease, her apathetic mood from before gone. If Pein wouldn't kill her for trying to escape, she'd coax him into killing her. Everything was better than being used by him for his organization.

Pein surprised her with another laugh as he released her wrist. "I doubt Konan's hands look masculine. You saw her entering the inn with me, didn't you?" he said, his hand suddenly creeping up her shoulder, reaching for something beyond. She froze under his touch until she heard the crisping of paper and he retracted his hand to reveal a small paper butterfly. "She sent this out to land on you as soon as you stepped out of the room so that we could follow your every movement."

"We?" she asked hoarsely.

"Konan and me," Pein replied softly, holding out the paper butterfly for her. "The rain outside was my doing, I keep it up in Rain so that I can feel intruders and I keep it up here in case you try to get away. Konan's butterflies work as radars. She can see through them and pinpoint someone's exact location with them."

"So there was no meeting?" Sakura accepted the butterfly as he handed it out to her. "This was all just a test, as I expected?"

His intense grey eyes observed the annoyed look that crossed her face. "It was. Now go back to your room and don't try to escape again. Now you know it's futile."

"I could kill myself, you know," Sakura said, meeting his cold stare. "I can grab a kunai and slice my wrists or my throat. You don't have another medic except for me."

"Sakura," he whispered, then cupped her chin like Itachi had done during the previous night. But instead of the forcefulness that had dominated Itachi's grasp, his fingers were relaxed and warm against her cool skin. "Why do you think we put Itachi and Kisame on guard?"

He peered over her head. "Itachi, see to it that Sakura is escorted back to her room without hurting herself."

Pein relinquished his hold on her chin, snapped in his fingers and the rain that had poured through the previous days immediately started again. He abruptly turned around and walked away after that, leaving her alone with Itachi who suddenly appeared next to her.

The rain drenched her within seconds, but she didn't move for a moment, watching Pein stepping up to the front door which was opened by the blue-haired woman, Konan. He looked over his shoulder, said something to her and stepped inside, sliding the door shut.

"So, you've been reporting to Pein about me?" Sakura said, voiced raised so that he could hear her clearly over the sound of the rain falling down.

Itachi didn't say anything as she whirled around to face him, cold fury burning in her eyes. "I could have been miles away by now if he didn't know!"

"You're a fool," he said quietly. "Pein is smarter than you think he is. He would have figured out you'd attempt to escape without my reports. Anyone in your situation would."

He had a point, she knew that, but the fury inside her wasn't easily quelled. She had been so close to escaping, so close to getting out of those wretched gardens and back into the world without the threat of Orochimaru killing her mother hovering over her head. She was so close to Konoha that she could nearly hear the flutes that played during the festival that was held there around this time.

They had no right to use her like this.

She was glad that it was raining as it mixed with her tears. "I hate you."

Sakura gritted her teeth as he stared back at her without a particular emotion displayed in his eyes. Itachi remained quiet for a moment and then he spoke. "You should worry about your situation instead of what you feel for me."

"Didn't I just tell you I hate you?" she spat back. "How does that qualify as having feelings for you?"

"Hate is a feeling," Itachi remarked wisely.

Her hand moved before she could even realize it, slapping him hard across the face.

Shocked, she withdrew her hand, ignoring the small feeling of perverse giddiness when she finally registered a flicker of emotion in his eyes. He certainly hadn't been expecting that.

Revenge came swiftly as the commas in his eyes started to spin wildly and swept her away from the world, into the realm of his illusions.

---------------------

"Itachi just used the Sharingan on that girl…yeah," Deidara remarked as he looked out of the window, observing the scene displayed in front of him. "After she slapped him."

Amused, he turned around as Itachi picked their hostage up and carried her over his shoulder, undoubtedly returning back to the room that belonged to the pink-haired kunoichi. "Leader seems to have some use for her though. Think it's her medic skills?"

Sasori half ignored him as he worked on repairing his puppet, calmly connecting limbs again. "I think he wishes to use her until Orochimaru is defeated and she has healed the injured ones."

"Speaking of Orochimaru," Deidara sat down across from Sasori, picking up a wooden finger. "Did you tell Leader about the Hakumei member that escaped?"

"I did," Sasori said, snatching the finger away from Deidara with a warning look in his eyes. "He wasn't that interested in what I had to say."

"Is that so?" Deidara said as he lazily leaned back until he dropped himself on the tatami mats, stretching lazily. "I still think he should pay more heed to this one…hmm."

The red-haired puppeteer stopped working for a moment and glanced at Deidara. "Why are you troubled? You saw how Pein handled him when we were there. He was vomiting by the time we left."

Deidara shot him a dark look. "He could have easily dodged that hit if he wanted to, if you ask me…yeah."

"Look underneath the underneath," Sasori quietly spoke up; reciting the shinobi proverb he had learned during his time in Sunagakure's shinobi academy. "Pein knows what he's doing. If he doesn't think this Kabuto is a threat, I wouldn't be worried."

"You place an alarming amount of trust in him, Sasori no danna…yeah," Deidara grinned as he glanced at his partner. "Are you sure it's a wise thing to do?"

Sasori didn't say anything in return, just observed him for a moment longer and then returned back to the job at hand.

------------------

_**A/N: **__I don't have much to say for once, haha._

_Love to Stem for her awesome betaing!_

_See you next time!_

_-- MitsukiShiroi_


	5. Chapter 5

**Twilight – an Itachi & Sakura story.**

**By: MitsukiShiroi**

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

_**A/N: **__I'm back! Hope you'll all enjoy this chapter._

**Chapter Five – Boundless**

She was crying when she awoke, her mouth formed in a silent scream as she clutched her sheets. Glimmers of Sasuke and a katana embedded deeply into his back flashed before her eyes as she hastily moved to the side of the bed. The foul taste of bile rose up in her throat and she leaned over the edge, throwing up on the wooden floor.

Somewhere behind her, Sakura could sense Itachi, who was witnessing the effects of his Mangekyou Sharingan for himself.

"You're awake," he said quietly, walking quietly towards the bed, but this time around his footsteps could be clearly heard.

Sakura shook her head and almost smiled wryly. '_Sadist_,' she thought, squeezing her eyes shut as she attempted to regulate her breathing. The only reason he allowed her to hear him approaching was simply because he wanted her scared and frightened. The attack with the Mangekyou Sharingan was just a demonstration of his powers.

"Bastard," she said out loud, still facing the former contents of her stomach on the floor.

Itachi crouched down in front of her, avoiding the puddle. His Sharingan was just a piercing crimson in the pitch black darkness of the room and it strangely intensified her feelings of hatred towards the older Uchiha. The last time she saw those eyes was when they had started spinning then whisked her away to a world of hurt.

"You're brave, kunoichi," he whispered dangerously.

As a cloud blocking the moon slowly moved out of the way, light began to illuminate the room. It was a scant amount, but just enough for her to see he was touching the cheek she slapped. "Why did you show me that?" she said, peering through the pink mass that obscured most of her face.

Itachi's blank eyes met hers. "The boy means a lot to you. His death was the most painful thing I could think of, considering the fact that you do not care about dying."

"You should have killed me," Sakura snapped, straightening.

"It would have been too easy a punishment," Itachi said simply, a knowing smirk playing around his lips. "Moreover, I would not like to be on Pein's bad side."

"So you do fear him," Sakura said with a smug smirk.

"You twist my words and make them your own," Itachi answered. "I said I would not like to be on Pein's bad side. I didn't say I fear him."

Sakura shrugged the comment off. "Those who are on Pein's side get eliminated anyway. I bet Akatsuki is torturing Orochimaru to death."

"If that is your idea of Pein's bad side, I suggest you do not think about your own fate," Itachi said, casually leaning back. "He might be amused with you, but nevertheless, you're Hakumei and you're a traitor to your own."

"No more than you are, Uchiha Itachi," she said, pronouncing his last name extra carefully. "Killer of your own," Sakura added calmly, as if it was a mere afterthought.

Itachi's moonlit face showed a half-smirk as he leaned forward again, his piercing eyes on the girl in front of him, watching her grow unnerved under his intense scrutiny.

Suddenly, his smirk vanished, leaving that thin, blank line that represented his mouth. Itachi moved and before she knew it, he was standing in front of her, his lips near her ear as he quietly, but oh so dangerously whispered: "Don't try to pull that move on me again kunoichi. I assure you, the Sharingan's illusions will be nothing compared to Sasuke's cold body in front of your very eyes."

"How can you not care," she asked quietly, paralyzed with fear. Itachi was still leaning over her shoulder, not moving an inch. "Sasuke is your brother."

"Sasuke is a failure," Itachi said coldly. "He is still the child that begged me for attention when we were younger - persisting in his pathetic attempts to become stronger than me. Clearly, he has failed."

He pulled back; face just a few inches away from hers as he stared at her, crimson eyes drilling holes into her defenses.

Momentarily, Sakura allowed herself to realize again why she had found him to be so attractive during the first night. Itachi's warm breath washed over her cheeks and his musky scent drifted around her. Danger emanated from him in palpable waves as he leaned in somewhat closer.

For a split second, she entertained the absurd notion that he was about to kiss her.

"You are weak," he whispered instead, something flashing behind his blood-red eyes. "You lack the courage to keep on living because of this weakness." Itachi leaned even closer, his cheek brushing hers as he whispered in her ear: "I think I pity you."

"That's more than I ever expected out of a heartless being like yourself, Uchiha," Sakura said calmly, watching him as he completely leaned back.

"I'm surprised," Itachi said, though no sign of shock was registered in those eyes of his. "You affiliate me with Sasuke, though I'm a heartless being?"

"Sasuke is no clan killer," Sakura spat out.

Itachi surprised her with a short laugh. "But if he ever accomplished his goal, Sasuke will be the one that kills me. And he'll be the one who finishes off the Uchiha clan."

"You're no kin to him."

"Am I not? We were born in the same womb, share the same features, the same Sharingan," Itachi continued ruthlessly. "Your hope and naivety is boundless, Sakura."

Sakura leaned in closer to him, her face distorted with anger. "You're no Uchiha to me, Itachi."

Itachi smirked, his intense eyes continuing to observe her reaction. It was all just a game to Itachi. Sakura would be killed soon and his newfound toy – the one he had found so interesting to manipulate and scare – would be gone and he'd be left alone with Kisame, once again.

But he could not help but be intrigued by the kunoichi. Because of her wish to die, she was almost fearless. Furthermore, the look in her eyes signaled that she'd be all too happy to rip his head off had she the chance and Itachi was sure she could do it. He had heard of her monstrous strength before.

Sakura gritted her teeth, confused as to why he was looking at her like that and not retorting, as he had been before. Finally, Itachi blinked and his Sharingan transformed into pinwheels.

Before she even had the chance to be afraid, the illusion set in and swept her away from the world. Seconds later, only her anguished screams could be heard in the empty corridors of the inn.

-------------------------

Kisame was casually standing outside, leaning against the stone walls with his arms crossed, Samehada leaning against his leg. The door across from him opened and Itachi stepped outside, his face a total blank as he glanced at Kisame.

"What did you show her?" Kisame asked with a grin, exposing his razor-sharp teeth.

"The only things that will frighten her at this stage," Itachi said simply. "Where is Pein?"

"In his room," Kisame shrugged as he pointed to a door farther ahead. "Konan just left so I take it the meeting is over and he's available now."

Itachi said nothing in response as he stalked to Pein's room, his Akatsuki cloak billowing with every step he took.

Kisame watched the Uchiha walk towards the room, knock and then step inside. As soon as the door closed, the shinobi flashed another revolting grin as he slowly pushed himself away from the wall, grasped Samehada and stepped towards the room that contained the prisoner.

-------------------------

Pein was casually sitting on the ground, inspecting some scrolls when Itachi stepped inside.

Immediately, his intense grey eyes focused on the Uchiha, watching his every step as he came closer to his leader. "Sit," he said, motioning towards a pillow on the other side of the table.

Obediently, Itachi sat down on the pillow, crossing his legs.

Pein gazed at him for a few seconds, intrigued by the younger shinobi. He watched as Itachi returned the gaze, his crimson eyes transforming back into his ordinary midnight-blue ones. "I take it you're here to report," Pein stated, straightening on his pillow.

"I am," Itachi replied, though he made no move to start.

"Might I inquire as to why you felt the need to use your Sharingan on her again?" Pein asked calmly, still searching for answers on the Uchiha's blank face.

Without waiting for an answer, the shinobi quietly continued: "The entire purpose of posting you and Kisame there is to stop her from harming herself or accidentally getting killed if someone foolishly planned to raid us."

Still, Itachi said nothing, though he recognized the killing intent in the air. He felt it every so often when Pein tried to force one of the other Akatsuki members to do his bidding by giving them a glimpse of what he was truly capable of. But it didn't matter how hard Pein tried to intimidate him. All Itachi did was respect Pein's prowess, not his unpredictability.

"Akatsuki stirs," Itachi spoke up calmly, returning Pein's glance without even blinking. "Most of us wonder why you've taken along Hakumei's kunoichi and even more wonder why we haven't found Orochimaru yet."

"You have not answered my question," Pein replied calmly, a dangerously soft tone in his voice. "Do not forget your place Itachi. The kunoichi will be of use to us. If you continue to play around with her mental condition like this, she might end up comatose like some of your other victims."

Pein leaned forward then. "And make no mistake. If such a thing should happen, you'll have to face my wrath."

Itachi showed no sign of being intimidated. "Such a thing will not happen."

"It'd better not," Pein returned casually. "As for our fellow members, I just sent out Konan to fix whatever their problems might be. Orochimaru is a man of little patience. Sooner or later, he will surface from whatever rock he's crept under and see what is left of his beloved Hakumei."

"You believe he will come for the kunoichi?" Itachi queried, though he already knew the answer.

The corners of Pein's mouth quirked up into something akin to a smile. "No. As valuable as she might be to Akatsuki at this point, he has that other boy. And from our previous reports, it seems that Yakushi Kabuto was his right hand. I sent Zetsu to watch over the medic. As soon as he tries to contact Orochimaru, we'll know."

Itachi nodded, not quite convinced that Kabuto wouldn't know that he was being followed. But Itachi also knew how intelligent Pein was. There was no doubt in his mind that his leader had already gone over this option and as he glanced at the auburn-haired man, he knew he was right.

"For now, I want you to continue your vigilant watch over the kunoichi and learn as much about her as you can," Pein said, rolling up his scrolls. "She was quite stealthy the other day. Hakumei had no wards like my rain or Konan's butterflies, so she's had a multitude of chances to get away from Hakumei."

"She was not a voluntary member of that organization," Itachi answered Pein's unspoken question.

"I figured as much," Pein said. "I want you to find out what Orochimaru used to keep her there."

Itachi watched Pein as he pushed himself off the ground. "You seem fascinated with her."

Pein glanced down at Itachi and opened his mouth to answer. But a scream resounding throughout the building interrupted and both men quickly realized whose voice it was: Sakura's.

"Itachi," Pein said, looking into the direction of the source of the noise.

Understanding his orders, Itachi quickly raced towards the door and through the corridor until he reached the room he occupied with Sakura.

By the time he reached it, Sasori was standing just outside the room and Kisame was leaving it. Samehada was bloodied and Itachi could clearly sense the waves of chakra it was still devouring. The Uchiha glared at Kisame as he pushed past him and stepped inside the room.

Sakura lay on the bed while Deidara inspected her arm. As Itachi calmly stepped closer, he noticed that her arm was mutilated. Long, jagged pieces of flesh were all that were left of her once polished skin and even Deidara looked shocked when he looked up.

"Kisame." Itachi said as he turned around to follow his partner, past Sasori who still stood by the doorway, smiling serenely as he looked inside towards the horrific wound on Sakura's arm. Behind him, he could hear Pein approaching in that slow confident stride of his, with Konan softly padding beside him.

Within seconds, Itachi caught up with Kisame who was just around the corner and stopped his partner midstride. "Are you that ignorant?" Itachi questioned – his voice still calm though he was thoroughly annoyed with Kisame. "What exactly have you gained by injuring the kunoichi Pein instructed us to keep safe?"

Kisame whirled around, grinning still. "She's just bleeding a bit. She can heal herself, can't she?"

"With you sapping up her chakra and disabling one of her hands?" a mocking voice came from behind them. As Itachi turned around, he noticed Hidan nonchalantly standing there, hands pocketed in his dark pants. Kakuzu stood several feet behind him, his dark eyes on Kisame. "And you're supposed to be a genius shinobi from Mist?" Hidan laughed calmly.

A second later, Pein turned around the corner, eyed Hidan's team and dismissed them without saying a word. He spun to meet Itachi and Kisame's eyes. "Itachi, with me," Pein ordered. "Kisame, dismissed. Rest assured that if she loses function in her arm, consequences will be dire."

With that, Pein walked back to Sakura's room, Itachi in tow.

Someone had turned on the lights and the bright lights clearly displayed the blood on the floor and the sheets.

Sakura still lay unconscious on the bed, her face distorted into a mix of pain and shock. Deidara hung over her, concentration reigning over him as he checked her wounds and if she had any other injuries. Next to him stood Konan, looking down on Sakura's still body as she pushed a blue strand of hair behind her ear.

"Can any one of you do something?" Pein asked coolly as he stepped forward. Deidara looked up and shook his head. He stood up and made way for Konan, who crouched down beside the bed and touched the places around the wound.

Pein sauntered to the bed, his hands in his pockets as he leaned forward to glance at the wound while Konan continued her inspection. She continued to gaze for a little longer, until Pein spoke up again, his tone remarkably soft: "Well?"

"I'm not a medical ninja," Konan replied, equally soft. "I can make the bleeding stop at most but I'm not quite sure just how deep the wound is. If it is deep enough, chances are high that Kisame has ruined her tendons and muscles and I won't be able to heal it."

"Thus she won't be able to heal any longer," Pein filled in calmly.

"She still has her other arm," Itachi said. "Chakra flows freely through that one."

"Until Kisame decides to attack her again…yeah," Deidara spoke up, his sky-blue eye fixed on Itachi. "Why did he do that anyway?"

"One can never know for sure what he's thinking," Sasori's soft voice sounded from the doorway. "Did they have a score to settle?"

All eyes turned to Itachi and he felt a slight pang of annoyance as he turned to Pein. "None that I know of."

Pein stood still for a moment, contemplating the entire situation and the serious risk of losing his newfound medic because of a cock up from one of his subordinates. Anger meant for Kisame started to surface but Pein calmly took the time to rein it in.

"Hidan, Kakuzu," he called out and the two Akatsuki members stepped forward. "Go to the nearest hidden village you can find. As long as her arm doesn't have to be amputated, a decently skilled medic will be able to heal those wounds."

"Abduct a medic to save another?" Hidan asked, wonder in his voice. "Leader, you can't be…"

But the look of cold fury in Pein's eyes and the sudden change in atmosphere quickly stopped Hidan mid-sentence. Kakuzu bowed and stepped outside the room. Hidan glanced at the kunoichi, then at Pein, nodded at him and followed Kakuzu outside.

"Konan," Pein said, remarkably calm once again. "Do the best you can and make sure the wounds don't get infected. Sasori, Deidara, I want you to go back to your room and await further instructions."

As soon as the two of them left, Pein turned to Itachi. "Guard duty now solely falls to your capable hands Itachi. Do not disappoint me."

With that, Pein marched out of the room, undoubtedly to punish Kisame for being a fool.

"He is indeed fond of her," Konan simply whispered as the door closed.

Itachi sat on the bed, observing Konan as she moved to the bathroom to get some water and said: "Pein is not the soulless person I thought him to be, if that is the case."

Konan peeked around the corner, her heavily painted eyes betraying hardly any emotion. "Neither are you."

The Uchiha looked into her eyes, trying to discern why she said such a thing, but after a moment of observation, Konan stepped further into the bathroom. Seconds later, he could hear water running and Itachi turned his eyes from the empty door to Sakura.

Sweat beaded on her forehead and her lips were opened slightly, allowing her haggard breathing to come out in feint gasps. He looked on as she slightly writhed in pain, apparently on the verge of regaining consciousness.

When she opened her eyes, he had already exited the room, knowing that Konan would come and get him when she was done treating Sakura.

-------------------------

"_This is almost becoming normal," _Sakura thought as she woke up, tears streaming over her cheeks, down to her pillow. She wasn't quite sure why she was crying, whether it was due to toe-curling pain shooting up and down her arm, or just because of the fact that she woke up.

With great effort, she opened her eyes, only to see Konan hovering over her, seemingly concentrated on her arm. The moment she recalled the attack and Kisame's grinning face, a new flash of pain passed through her followed by the wave of nausea that surged forward when she realized she was completely drained of chakra.

"What happened?" she managed weakly, hoping to find an ally in the woman she hadn't even spoken to during her visit.

"Lie still," Konan just said, her eyes flickering up to meet Sakura's momentarily. "I'm trying to stop the bleeding."

"Why?" Sakura queried, trying her hardest to keep still as the other woman continued to prod her with some kind of moisturized cloth.

Konan seemed to smile. "Haruno Sakura is it?" she dipped the bloodied cloth into the bucket of water next to the bed and rinsed it before continuing her work. "I've heard a lot about you and your wishes."

"Why does everybody in Akatsuki believe that they know what I want?" Sakura asked, agitated somewhat.

"So you don't wish to die?" Konan asked, curiosity lacing her voice. "You didn't threaten Pein that you'd slit your wrists or your throat? And you haven't repeatedly wished to not wake up before you opened your eyes?"

Sakura moved upwards, ignoring the flaming pain in that made its way up her shoulder as she looked at Konan, angered. "You know nothing of me."

"You're right," Konan said calmly, eyes calmly observing her emerald orbs. "But I know enough of people and I see when they are desperate. Now lie still or I'll ask Itachi to put you down with another illusion. I'm sure you haven't quite recovered from the previous one, have you?"

Roughly, Konan dabbed the wound until it was somewhat cleaned. She instructed Sakura to hold up her arm, which the pink-haired kunoichi did reluctantly. After Konan placed the gauze and bandaged the wound, she leaned back, brushing her azure locks from her eyes. "That should do," Konan said, inspecting her handiwork as she formed a couple of seals.

Seconds later, she held up her hand as the skin starting to move until a small piece detached. Horrified, Sakura watched as Konan plucked it from her hand and quickly folded it into a butterfly. Without saying a word, she pressed it against Sakura's wound and when she retracted her hand, the butterfly was stuck on top.

"If you try to remove the bandage or even touch it, Pein and I will know immediately," Konan warned calmly as she straightened herself, picking up the bucket of water and blooded piece of cloth. "Don't try anything."

"What?" Sakura dared to venture. "No guards?"

"I'll call Itachi for you," Konan said calmly.

"I was kidding," Sakura said weakly.

"I wasn't," Konan replied easily as she disappeared into the bathroom. Seconds later, Sakura heard her emptying the contents of the bucket into the sink. Before long, Konan reappeared.

The older woman just eyed her impassively and walked out of the room after a while without saying anything.

Left alone, Sakura stared up at the ceiling, trying her hardest to avoid thinking about her parched throat. It only took her a few seconds to recognize that in addition to her wound, she had signs of dehydration – probably due to the fact she hadn't had anything to drink in over a day's time.

She slid away from the bed and as her feet touched the ground, realizing once again that she didn't have any chakra left. Without those reserves, walking would be hard.

The kunoichi fought her hardest and managed to push herself up, holding onto the wall to regain her balance as she shuffled through the room, foot by foot, until she heard the door open and rolled her eyes.

"I'm just going out for a drink," Sakura said, not even looking at whoever stood in the doorway – though she had a pretty good guess. "So no, I don't have suicidal notions at the moment."

"That would be a first," Itachi said in his deep baritone voice.

Sakura cast a look over her shoulder. "You insult me," she said, matching his blandness.

Itachi was leaning inside the doorway with his arms and legs crossed. He wasn't looking at her – his gaze more directed at the wood of the doorway than at her. "You seem troubled."

Sakura turned around completely now, leaning against the wall as her knees threatened to give out on her. With the greatest of efforts, she made her way back to the bed and sat down on top of it, eyes still fixed on Itachi.

"You know that slap I handed out to you?" Sakura said calmly. "I don't regret it. You deserved it."

Itachi crossed the distance and sat down on a stool beside the bed. "What have I done that is so despicable then?" he questioned, challenging her logics. "I reported to the leader of Akatsuki about your thought-processes and behavior. That you would try to escape was nothing more than an anticipated fact."

"You reported to him about me," she whispered, feeling strangely betrayed.

Itachi picked up the hitch in her voice and leaned closer. "I am Akatsuki, you are Hakumei. I'm not your best friend or someone you can divulge all your secrets to without consequences. Everything you say will eventually be used against you, whether it is to assess your state of mind or what kind of actions you may make in the future."

"I never asked you to be that kind of person," Sakura snapped. "I never did. The only person who I call my best friend is miles away from me."

"That was your own choice. Your deal."

"Kimimaro was not my best friend," Sakura said calmly. "In Hakumei, he was. But before I was whisked away to work for that... monster, I had another friend."

"I did not ask for your life's story," Itachi said indifferently, leaning back.

"And you will never have it," Sakura retorted simply, dropping herself back on the bed. The glass of water she longed for was now in a far corner of her mind, well-forgotten as sleep overtook her.

Somewhere, far away, she could hear Itachi say something, but she ceased listening to him as she drifted away.

-------------------------

The first rays of sunlight streamed inside the small room as dawn broke. Sakura stirred, still half asleep as she turned around and flung her arm to the side, only to have it connect with something other than the mattress.

She opened her eyes to the most unexpected of sights.

Itachi lay on the bed, next to her, still clothed in his dark pants and shirt, though his Akatsuki cape was now gone. One of his muscular arms was under his head with the other one on his stomach. Itachi's long eyelashes cast shadows on his cheeks, and his face looked more relaxed and younger than when his eyes were opened.

Though his eyes were still closed and he breathed evenly, she had no doubt in her mind that her movement had woken him.

Her thoughts were proven right when Itachi opened his eyes. Though, this time around they weren't crimson. Instead, they were a deep shade of blue, nearing black. With those endless pools, he watched her, awaiting some kind of explanation as to why she was watching him, but she had nothing more to say than a simple "good morning."

Itachi remained quiet and closed his eyes as his mouth formed something akin to what could have been a smile if the corners of his mouth just lifted up a little further. "Good morning."

The observation of one another continued for a minute longer, until Itachi blinked several times and moved to get off the bed.

"Don't go," he heard Sakura whisper to him.

Itachi contemplated the situation.

If he stayed, his baser instincts would probably take over. Much as he tried to avoid thinking about it, the kunoichi was a beautiful woman. Her bright eyes often captured him and he liked the muscles underneath her supple skin. Though she looked frail, Itachi held no doubt in his mind that she could easily eliminate him if he was a weaker shinobi.

Itachi turned around and faced the kunoichi as she looked up to meet his eyes, her pink hair spread over the pillows and her eyes still filled with sleep. Even looking like a rumpled waif, he couldn't ignore the attraction that she held.

Her plea was tempting.

But instead of following his impulses, he stood up and grabbed his cloak, making his way through the doorway without looking back.

Uchiha Itachi was known for many things, but he did not fall easily for seemingly tempting things. First and foremost, they were shinobi. And to be the ultimate shinobi meant letting go of feelings, needs and wants.

There was only one reward for the ones that let go of everything, and it was absolute strength.

And that was truly the only thing Itachi needed.

-------------------------

_**A/N: **__Again, I apologize that it's been so long. I've been working like mad on my novel together with Stem, so Twilight kind of got left behind. But we're back with another chapter._

_I hope you liked this one!_

_Much love to Stem's fantastic job at editing this chapter!_

_-- MitsukiShiroi_


	6. Chapter 6

**Twilight – an Itachi & Sakura story.  
****By: MitsukiShiroi**

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

_**A/N: **__Happy extremely belated New Year guys!_

_Sorry this took so incredibly long. My muse totally abandoned me after the last couple of chapters and I wasn't sure whether I wanted to continue this story, but here I am, with a new installment._

**Chapter Six – Painless**

She woke as a cool night breeze passed by, turning restlessly on the cold ground as Sakura tried her hardest to ignore the tickling of grass on her ankles.

As she turned to the right, Sasuke was lying there. The red and white fan on his always pristine kimono looked stark against the dark colors of the evening and calmly moved along with every breath he took.

"… Sasuke…"she whispered blissfully as she stretched out her hand to touch his back. But the kimono tranformed from white to black and the fan changed into a red cloud as the tips of her fingers touched Uchiha Itachi's back.

Within seconds, he had turned and stabbed one of his razorsharp kunai right where her fingers had been just a split second ago.

Red eyes blazing, he stared at her with those lifeless eyes for a while longer, before grinning ever so slightly. It was just the corner of his mouth that tilted to one side and it was almost unnoticeable, except for the fact that she did see it and for a moment, Sakura was stunned to see the resemblence between Itachi and Sasuke.

"I hate you," Sakura said, staring hard into those magnificent eyes of his.

Itachi didn't move. "I know."

"I do." She was starting to feel like a child throwing a tantrum. All she wanted was for him to show one clear emotion, just one time to see him angered.

"There's no Sasuke."

"You reject his presence."

"I reject your reality," Itachi said. He turned to her completely now, his raven hair falling over his shoulders, obscuring his neck momentarily before Itachi brushed it away again. "I reject the Sasuke you've created."

"You know nothing of my reality."

"Indeed."

Sakura turned around, ending their conversation.

The past couple of days, Itachi had been using her for his little mind games. He lured her into a trap set up by him, and barraged her with questions that she had no answers to. Or just simple statements that instantly made it harder for her to breathe because of the anger that would boil up inside of her. Her blood became like liquid fire and Sakura would often fantasize about wrapping her hands around his neck and squeezing the life out of him.

Sakura wasn't even quite sure if she was dreaming about Sasuke in the grass, or if it was just another one of his illusions.

Judging from the way her head was spinning, Sakura guessed it to be the latter.

"I hate you."

Itachi was quiet for a moment and she thought he had gone back to sleep. But then he answered softly: "I know."

"Shut the fuck up," Hidan suddenly called from farther ahead, sounding absolutely peeved.

Sakura pushed herself off the grass to meet Hidan's intense gaze as he frowned at her, his mouth set in a scowl. He glanced at her, annoyed for a second longer, before clacking his tongue calmly. "Pray to Jashin you won't be a worthy sacrifice."

"I'll pray to Jashin that Pein will lop your head off."

"What was that?"

Sakura shook her head. "I said I don't believe in Jashin."

Hidan smirked at that, softly stroking the rosary that was wrapped around his arm before lying down. "You will someday soon. Mark my words."

"Or I'll just send one of my explosives to the two of you and blast the both of you to kingdom come… yeah," an angered Deidara called out from behind Kisame's sleeping body.

"How to sleep with Akatsuki, part one," Sakura muttered quietly as Hidan started to throw insults at Deidara.

"Let us hope part two won't be in the making," Sasori remarked from next to Sakura as he propped his arm under his head and watched Hidan and Deidara bickering.

After watching the two Akatsuki members fight for a while, Sakura carefully turned back to Itachi. But he had turned from her and was now sleeping, if he even was, with back facing her.

Sakura closed her eyes.

If her eyes were closed, she could imagine that the warmth emanating from Itachi's body was actually Sasuke's and that this was all just a bad dream.

She was asleep by the time Pein and Konan returned from their expedition.

* * *

Indeed, she awoke with the scent of fire and wood prickling his nostrils and thought it to be an illusion. It wasn't until after she sat up straight that Sakura realized that all Akatsuki members had gone away except for Kisame, who sat several feet next to her, Samehada resting between his legs.

"Where are they?" Sakura questioned as she rubbed her bleary eyes.

"Meeting up with Hebi."

"Hebi?"

Kisame flashed his monstrous grin as he pointed into the distance.

All Akatsuki members stood there in formation, all lined up Pein stood a couple of feet in front of the others, obviously in deep discussion with the others. All she could see of Akatsuki's opponents was a tall boy with spiked blond hair and she saw another young man with blue hair standing next to him, if she strained to look over Sasori's puppet.

"Lots of groups are trying to hurt Akatsuki. Hebi is one of them," Kisame growled amusedly, as he forcefully grabbed her arm. "Itachi-san told me I should bring you to them after you woke up."

Within seconds, Kisame had moved to the Akatsuki group and threw Sakura to the ground in front of the other members.

Hitting the ground hard, Sakura rolled over. The abrupt halting of her breathing had caused tears to form in her eyes as she coughed violently and inhaled deeply. Sakura looked at Kisame, ready to grab a kunai and kill him, until a woman's voice sounded from behind her.

"What's this? Akatsuki's latest dog?"

Stopping halfway her grab to her kunai, Sakura abandoned staring Kisame to death as she turned to the woman standing behind her. But her gaze lingered somewhere and it took her a few seconds to realize that she knew the kimono one of the boys was wearing.

Eyes widening, Haruno Sakura turned back to Uchiha Sasuke, who stood there calmly, watching the spectacle unfold before his eyes. His midnight blue eyes betrayed no emotion, like Itachi's. But unlike the other brother's eyes, Sasuke showed some emotion, though heavily guarded and almost unnoticeable.

"Sasuke…kun…"she whispered, stretching out her hand.

But a strong female hand wrapped around her wrist and restrained her movement. Tearing her eyes away from the vision that had plagued her dreams and fantasies for years now, Sakura glared hard at the red-headed woman who had grabbed her wrist.

"What do you think you're doing?" the red-head asked in contempt. She squeezed even harder, allowing Sakura to think for a split second that she might actually end up with her fingers broken. "Don't touch Sasuke-sama."

'_Another illusion, huh, Itachi?_'

Forcing herself to laugh it off, she turned back to Akatsuki and ignored the poignant stares most of them were giving her, until her eyes met Itachi's.

But the message that his eyes conveyed for once was clear enough. He was not toying around with her, not this time.

"You…" a deep voice said, and she nearly shuddered as she realized that his voice had barely changed over the years. Perhaps it was just a tad deeper, but the richness of it was still there, as was the smooth way he pronounced his words.

With a smile, Sakura turned back to meet Sasuke's icy stare.

"… Who are you?"

The red-head smiled cruelly as her world shattered all around her. The girl let go of her hand as Sasuke walked past Sakura, right up to Pein.

"I demand a duel."

"Do you know who you're talking to, kid?" Deidara said, incredulous.

Itachi stepped forward then, until he was a mere feet away from Sasuke.

"… Sasuke…" the girl whispered quietly, but hard enough for Sakura to hear. Deep inside of her, she wanted to vomit. This was supposed to be her role; she should be by Sasuke's side instead of this red-headed bimbo.

Another part of her wanted to throttle her.

And yet another part kept whispering the words Sasuke had said to her, over and over again. It reminded her of how little she was worth in his eyes. Sakura might have been one of many that he had conveniently saved when he felt like it.

It hurt her to think about how minimal her part in his life had been, while his part in her life was a life-changing moment. All those nights in Hakumei's base, all the drawing she made, all those dreams, all those stories and all the times she defended Sasuke in front of Itachi.

All for a man that didn't even recognize her.

The tall man and the blue-haired boy joined the girl in front of her and suddenly Sakura just understood. She watched Sasuke's back, his kimono moving as a gust of wind blew by. That was the sole vision of him that was clear as daylight to her and it would be the only vision she'd ever have of him, because he did not find her worthy enough.

The three people standing in front of her were probably highly skilled, handpicked by Sasuke himself, but she wasn't enough. She had her chance to prove herself to him all those years ago, but Sakura had been weak and he had found no good reason to keep her with him.

She was left behind, again. Always a bother. Always the third wheel.

Sakura buried her face in her hands, trying to stop her laughter as it spilled forth from her lips. Unable to control the fit of laughter, she could only sit on the ground, absolutely horrified as her laughter turned into tears in front of Akatsuki and Hebi.

"Someone's even more insane than Juugo, who would have thought?" the girl smirked, before kicking Sakura in the stomach, pushing her all the way to Akatsuki, until she bumped into Deidara who looked down upon her with his one good eye.

Concern was written in his expression, as was confusion, but a split second later, all emotion that had been there was gone and he was again one of Akatsuki.

She didn't look up to Sasuke anymore, and avoided his scalding hot gaze as it perused her face. Itachi was standing next to her and she raised his eyes to meet his.

"I told you, kunoichi." Itachi simply said.

Desperately wishing for the ground to just open up and swallow her, Sakura attempted to ignore Itachi's words, but they reached her anyway.

"He is not your reality."

"Kunoichi," Sasuke said then, his midnight blue eyes bleeding crimson as they turned to Itachi. "What is your name?"

"Why would she bother telling you it again… yeah?" Deidara questioned calmly. "You would just forget it anyway."

Sasuke's blood-red Sharingan moved from Itachi to Deidara and back again as he held his brother's gaze, though Itachi almost looked bored. "What is your name?"

"His name is Uchiha Itachi," Deidara said, raising his eyebrow. "I thought you should know that by now, considering the fact that the two of you are brothers."

"He was talking to the kunoichi," the girl said in defense.

Sasori stepped forward. "Karin is it? The polite thing to do is to look at someone when speaking to them."

"I've waited long for this moment," Sasuke said between gritted teeth, a maniacal spark showing in his eyes as he considered Itachi for a moment longer.

"Haruno Sakura," Sakura whispered quietly. "We met in Konoha. You saved me."

"He can't remember you," Karin said, tauntingly vicious.

"Enough," Pein said, stepping forward. Though his powerful presence and chilling chakra usually frightened her, Sakura stayed on the floor, not moving as she calmly breathed on, not comprehending which direction this entire scenario had gone.

Pein took another step. "Kisame, take the kunoichi with you and continue our journey to the next village. Deidara, Sasori, you will stay behind with Itachi. The rest, move on."

"Don't we need three others to stay behind in case the rest of Hebi decides to attack Akatsuki as well?" Hidan said as he strolled towards Pein. "I think it may be best if Kakuzu and I stay behind as well."

Pein considered him for a split second and waved his hand. "Very well. I want a full report tomorrow."

With that, he passed Kisame who was picking up Sakura, and walked up to where Konan stood.

"Oh, and Hidan."

"Yes?"

Pein halted and turned around. "No survivors."

Hidan's grin widened even more as he grabbed the pink scythe strapped to his back. Kakuzu stepped next to him, rolling up the sleeves of his Akatsuki cloak, while Deidara grabbed his bag of clay.

Still unable to even so much more, Sakura was flung over Kisame's shoulders and helplessly looked on as Sasuke grabbed his katana and speedily made some hand seals.

As Sasuke leaned forwards and used one of his fire jutsu, the last thing Sakura saw was the smirk that formed on his lips.

It was one of acceptance.

* * *

Squinting his eyes to prevent the ashes from reaching him, Itachi moved to the side long after Sasuke had made his grand disappearance.

To his right, he noticed Deidara, still with his hands in his pockets as the girl with red hair, Karin, stepped forward towards him. To the left, both Kakuzu and Hidan stood ready across from Juugo and Suigetsu, while Sasori stood behind them, grabbing one of his scrolls.

Seconds later, Sasuke re-appeared in front of him, snakes wrapped around his arm while the commas in his eyes started spinning fast.

Itachi smirked, and pumped his arm quickly, kunai flying out of his sleeves.

Sasuke avoided and in an attempt to catch Itachi by surprise, he moved to Itachi's side. But the older Uchiha had anticipated the move and for once, since his childhood, smiled gently as he moved his hand with the speed of light to tap Sasuke's forehead.

With his other hand, a kunai came forward while Sasuke just stood there, baffled.

* * *

Though they had advanced quickly, the scream that suddenly cut through the stillness was mind-blowing. Sakura had immediately identified the voice as Sasuke's and struggled hard, praying that she'd hit Kisame in the right places and that he'd let go of her.

Instead, his grip intensified to the point where she couldn't even move her lowerbody, leaving her to resort to one last option.

Accumulating chakra in her hand, she balled her fist and prepared for a strike to the head, smirking viciously as she thought about slamming Sharky to kingdom come.

But just before her fist hit his head, Kisame pushed her off him and drew his monstrous sword while Sakura landed hard on the floor. She lost her concentration and the chakra she had been storing in her fist.

"What the hell was that for?" Sakura said, gritting her teeth hard.

Kisame squatted in front of her. "I don't appreciate it when people try to attack me from behind kunoichi." He grinned viciously, baring his razor sharp teeth, and with it, his killer breath.

Fighting hard to ignore the pungent smell that came from his mouth, Sakura swallowed the bile that was surging upwards and scrambled up. "I need to see what's happened."

"No," a familiar voice from behind her said. As she turned, Sakura stood face to face with Pein, his eyes so cold that she could almost feel a shiver running down her spine.

"Pein, I seriously-"

"No."

"You don't understand!"

"I've been given the gift of a brain and therefore, understand," Pein answered easily. "We will return after the battle is fought. But you're our only medic and when the battle is done, we'll need one for our members."

Sakura stepped forward, completely ignoring her fear. "I am not your toy Pein. If Uchiha Sasuke kills one of your men and injures the rest of them, I will laugh at them as they bleed to death."

"As will I when I see your mother bleeding to death."

She blinked.

"What?"

Pein grinned devilishly. "Itachi's Mangekyou also shows him what you fear most. Your mother is still in Konoha, is she?"

"Bastard," Sakura said, tears forming in her eyes. She took another step towards him, balling her fists. "You damned bastard."

Pein said nothing, just regarded her momentarily. "We will rest here," Pein calmly stated. "Konan, send out your birds to see how the battle is progressing."

"Yes Pein," Konan said, already forming some seals.

"You're even lower than Orochimaru," Sakura said, angered still.

Pein laughed softly at that. "Sakura, your insults do not hurt me. Nor will they hurt you."

Behind her, she heard Kisame laughing softly with that raspy voice of his. "He's right kunoichi. You won't be killed because we need you, you can't kill yourself because we make sure you won't and you can't run because you can't hide."

"Luckily I can do this," Sakura said with a smirk, as she turned quickly and hit Kisame in the stomach. Apparently he hadn't suspected her to lash out at him as he did absolutely nothing to avert the blow or stop the attack.

Kisame fell down to his knees, coughing violently. Sakura smiled victoriously, until Pein wrapped a hand around her and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look over her shoulder to him. "You do realize this means you'll have to heal him, Sakura?"

"I imagine those fighting are more in need of medical attention than Kisame is."

Pein actually smiled amusedly at her, his grey eyes still completely focused on her. "I imagine they are."

He promptly let go of her and walked towards Konan, presumably to ask about the battle.

Sakura just watched him go and decided that he was even more enigmatic than Itachi himself.

* * *

A long hour had passed since the beginning of the battle. Having little understanding about genjutsu battles, Sakura awaited, biting her nails in process.

Next to her, Konan sat calmly, her eyes closed as she regarded the battle through her bird's eyes. Occasionally, she'd open her azure eyes and shoot a glance into Pein's direction, who would nod and motion for her to continue.

To her right, Kisame sat, rubbing his stomach and muttering curses into her direction. Ever so often, Sakura would glance back and grin as viciously as she could. Though Pein had her in his grip, she understood now that he wouldn't mind if she retaliated at times. As long as she continued to heal his members, he'd be fine with it.

This opened a whole new world of options to her, but no solution to her imminent problems.

Another scream reached her ears and Sakura sighed in relief as she realized that it was a female.

"Red-head is down," Konan reported coolly. "Sasori took her down."

"Red-head versus red-head," Kisame remarked.

"How very perceptive of you," Konan said calmly, shooting Kisame a glance before closing her eyes again. Sakura did her best to refrain from snickering, knowing full well that Konan could lash out to her within seconds.

Pein was staring at Kisame, apperently assessing the damage Sakura had caused. His eyes went from Kisame's chest to the stomach Kisame was massaging calmly. After a while, Pein averted his eyes and glanced at Sakura.

Momentarily, an emotion flashed behind his grey eyes, but it was gone before she could even read it. If Sakura didn't know better, she would have sworn she had seen something akin to pride, as if he was silently congratulating her for her slug.

"Fight's over," Konan said finally and Sakura's head snapped to her so fast that she was afraid it might fall off.

"And?"

Konan glanced at her but said absolutely nothing as she stood up and looked at Pein. He nodded and signaled for Sakura to stand up as well. "Sakura, you will accompany me to the battle field. Konan, stay here with Kisame."

Konan nodded obediently and sat down again while Kisame shot Sakura a dirty look.

"Let's go," Pein said. Sakura turned to him and nodded, following him quickly as he jumped onto a branch and made his way back to the field.

The way there looked like so much longer than the way to where they had awaited for the battle to end. With every jump she took, her feet became heavier and her mind wearier of what she might find there.

Itachi could be dead and Sasuke could be standing, or it could be vice versa. Perhaps both of them were down. She would be forced to heal Itachi and disregard Sasuke either way.

She concentrated on Pein in front of her, easily jumping from one branch to another, his Akatsuki cloak softly billowing with each jump he made. Pein apparently felt her eyes in his back as he glanced over his shoulder.

"You are worried."

"That's a fair assessment."

Pein turned back to the front. "Didn't Orochimaru tell you not to care so much about what happens to others?"

"He considered me a failed kunoichi, except when it came to healing," Sakura said calmly. "I'm not built like you are, emotionless and uncaring about what happens to other people."

"So, tell me, Sakura," Pein said. "Are you worried for Itachi, or for Sasuke?"

"Isn't it obvious who I'm worried for?" Sakura shot back.

Pein halted and turned to her. "From my point of view, you worry for both."

"Your point of view is wrong," Sakura snapped.

Pein cocked his head to the side. "I wonder if I am."

Ignoring the Akatsuki leader further, she bypassed him and hurried on to the open space where the battle took place. As she finally reached the end of the forest, she halted in horror at the sight of the battlefield.

Kunai were everywhere, embedded deeply in the trees and the ground.

As was blood.

Small pools of the crimson liquid had formed near where she stood and even more in the center.

And there, amidst seemingly thousands of kunai and shuriken, lay Itachi, blood streaming from his mouth and left eye, with Sasuke on the other side of him, unmoving.

They looked like a portrait, the long lost brothers, finally reunited in a final dance of death. An eternal work of art.

Sakura's breathing increased as Pein joined her and looked around the battle scene.

The others of team Hebi lay around the pair. Sasori was pinned to a tree and moving slowly, while Deidara was leaning against the same tree, breathing heavily. Kakuzu stood on the opposite side of where Sakura was standing, watching Hidan laying on the floor with a spear in his chest.

But her eyes continued to focus on the two Uchihas and when she finally was able to move again, Sakura willed herself to move forward. She stepped into a puddle of blood and faintly wondered whose it was as she realized it was still warm.

Moving even closer to the brothers, she noticed that Sasuke was still breathing, though it was labored and faint.

And then she realized that Itachi was not.

* * *

_**A/N: **__Bit of a short chapter, but I hope it was a good one. Once again, my apologies for the delay._

_See you next time!_

_-- MitsukiShiroi_


	7. Chapter 7

**Twilight – an Itachi & Sakura story.  
****By: MitsukiShiroi**

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

_**A/N: **__After the last chapter, I had gotten some comments on Sakura in this story, that she's too weak and such._

_I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that it's an AU. Sakura was abducted by Orochimaru when she was incredibly young, so her experiences with Sasuke, Naruto and Ino that shaped her in the manga to the great young woman she's now never happened in Twilight._

**Chapter Seven – Heartless**

Her initial reaction was to run to Sasuke, activate her medical jutsu and make sure that the gaping wounds on his body would close before she'd heal the minor wounds, until he was the old Sasuke again. No blood coating his cheeks, or a small stream of blood running from his mouth.

He would be just the old, seemingly invincible Sasuke who had saved her so many years ago.

The one that had forgotten that she even existed in the first place.

Slowly, she attempted to move around Itachi to get to Sasuke, but Pein was still standing behind her. He put one of his strong hands on Sakura's shoulder and as she turned to meet his gaze, his grey eyes stared hard at her.

Pein shook his head. "Itachi first."

"Itachi is dead."

"He's not, kunoichi. Look closer."

And as Pein pointed to the seeingly lifeless body of Itachi, Sakura noticed his chest heaving just a little, before it lay still. And then it rose again.

"Heal him. Now," Pein ordered, pushing her down to the ground.

She shook uncontrollably because of her anger as she hastily formed the handseals for one of her best medical jutsu. A blue glow of chakra enveloped her hand as she moved forwards to the large gaping hole in Itachi's chest.

The smell around Itachi was horrible, as if someone had set his body on fire and doused it within a few seconds. She heaved, swallowing the bitter bile in her throat. "After Itachi is healed, can I see to Sasuke?"

"Itachi is the main priority now. But if the younger Uchiha lives when you're done, you're allowed to heal him."

Sakura nodded and bowed over Itachi's still body, pushing the blood-drenched shirt up until she could see his stomach, or at least, what was left of it.

His skin was ripped to shreds and where the hole was, she could see the inside being half burned. Shocked to her very core as she noticed how extensive the damage was, Sakura increased the amount of chakra and placed her hand over Itachi's stomach, covering the hole.

"Pein-san, I need… some water and a clean cloth. I need to clean up the wound."

It became quiet for a while and as she cast a glance over her shoulders, Sakura noticed Pein still standing there, watching her as she attempted to heal him.

"Konan will be here in a few seconds, I told her to get water."

_Clever, _Sakura thought. _Of course he knew I'd try and heal Sasuke while he's gone._

Sure enough, she could feel Konan approaching and within a minute, Konan appeared on the battlefield, holding a bottle filled with water. "Will this be enough?" Konan queried as she handed the bottle to Sakura.

"Yes, but I'll need your assistance," Sakura said, looking at Konan. "I need to keep my hands here, but we need try and clean him up a little, otherwise I can't see what I'm doing. Only probing the insides with chakra is incredibly dangerous and one mistake could kill him."

Konan exchanged a glance with Pein. He waved vague gesture with his hand and Konan sat down on the other side of Itachi, pushing Sasuke a little to the side while doing so. Sakura couldn't help but flinch as she noticed Konan had pushed him right into another puddle of blood.

"What should I do?" Konan questioned as she sat down, staring into the wound.

"Wetten the cloth, then dab around the wound first. There's too much blood here for me to see where to start."

Pein just watched as the two women cleaned up one of his best members and then watched how Uchiha Sasuke stirred ever so often.

And then he smirked ever so slightly.

Everything had gone according to plan.

* * *

The silhouette perched on the balcony watched as the sun set slowly, painting the sky with vivid colors like red and pink as the first stars of that night appeared. A calm evening breeze blew, messing up his hair.

He brushed a couple of stray, white hairs out of his face and his green eyes were always focused on the sight in front of him.

Even as it started raining softly, Kimimaro kept perfectly still, barely blinking as he kept staring at the inn in front of him. According to the woman in town, the pink-haired girl was with a group of men, S-Class missing nin. But when he had gone in to see if he could find Sakura, he was told that they had left a few days ago, but their leader had said they'd return.

And so he waited.

No matter what the costs, he was getting Sakura away from those shinobi. Sakura hated it with Orochimaru, but Kimimaro couldn't even imagine how bad Akatsuki was probably treating her.

He heaved, coughing violently as the rain continued to fall down. Even as Kimimaro glanced at the dark sky above him, he knew the rain would fall relentlessly as it had for days now.

"Pein is in the vicinity, huh?" Kimimaro whispered amusedly, turning his gaze back to the inn just in time to see two Akatsuki members entering the house. One of them had silver hair slicked back and was talking to his partner whose face was almost completely covered with a few pieces of cloth.

Kimimaro thoroughly enjoyed the look of annoyance that crossed the man's face as he continued his violent waterfall of words. Even from where he was sitting, Kimimaro could faintly hear him cursing madly while his partner grunted once or twice.

When more Akatsuki members arrived, Kimimaro stood up from the balcony he was sitting on and jumped onto a tree that was closer to the inn.

Just in time apparently as two Akatsuki members appeared, holding onto another member. Kimimaro strained to look at the face, but the cloaks of the two carrying him obscured his features.

Behind them, two women followed and Kimimaro's heart nearly skipped a beat as he recognized Sakura's telltale pink hair sticking out above the red and black Akatsuki cloak she was wearing. Next to her was the blue-haired woman he had seen once before while scouting for Orochimaru.

And finally, Pein walked behind them, carrying someone over his shoulder with apparent ease. Kimimaro stepped onto another branch, peering through the thick foliage as he tried to identify the person Pein was carrying, but all he could see was short black hair and a white kimono.

Then something blue and red flashed on the kimono and Kimimaro's eyes grew as he realized it was the Uchiha logo.

"Uchiha Sasuke…" he whispered quietly. Orochimaru had wanted the boy in his custody for years now as he finally had mastered his body changing technique. But the Uchiha had stayed away from Orochimaru and with good cause, Kimimaro knew.

But bringing him to Orochimaru would mean taking a step to fulfill Orochimaru's wishes.

Calculating his moves, he eyed Sakura one more time before she disappeared inside the inn together with Konan, Pein and Sasuke.

The Uchiha was unconscious, but Kimimaro could certainly carry him and he was sure Sakura would help him with getting away from Akatsuki. Furthermore, other than dark circles under her eyes, Sakura looked fine and would definitely be able to run along with him as they moved away from Akatsuki.

But on the other side, there would definitely be a guard in Sakura's room and in Sasuke's room.

Gritting his teeth, Kimimaro dropped down to the ground and wrapped the black cloak he had bought a while ago around his wiry frame. They knew what he looked like. The moment they'd see him, they would know that he would be there for Sakura. And the entire attack had to be a surprise; if it were possible, Kimimaro would prefer to leave with Sakura without stirring an entire riot.

After all, he was still sick and unable to fight for a very long time. And Akatsuki was a group that should not be underestimated at all. Orochimaru had warned him of that long ago and Kimimaro would do well to remember so.

As he got closer to the inn, two more Akatsuki members appeared, one small, dragging slowly over the ground while the other one was about his height. And as he removed his hat, Kimimaro immediately spotted the blond hair that was etched in his mind.

_Him!_

Kimimaro would never forget the day that Akatsuki attacked. They came before the appointed time, before Kabuto was done instructing everybody and with their first hit, they had took out the three genin in their party, Tayuya and Jiroubo.

Afterwards, they just killed everybody they saw, until they got to him.

The red-haired man, the puppeteer, Sasori was busy fighting Sakon and Ukon at the same time. And the blond, Deidara was his name, started fighting him, using mind-blowing explosives that were unpredictable and so hard to read for the tired Kaguya.

But he'll never forget that arrogant grin that played on Deidara's lips as he looked down at Kimimaro on the floor, coughing violently, before knocking him unconscious, mumbling something about a deal.

Just thinking about it made his blood boil.

Resolutely, Kimimaro paced to the inn, pulling the hood of his cloak farther over his face as he tucked all of his wet hairs away from sight.

* * *

Sakura was just done taking a bath, washing Itachi and Sasuke's blood off her fingers when a knock came on the door. Wrapping one of her large, shabby towels around her body, Sakura peeked out of the bathroom. "Who is it?"

"Pein," the deep voice said from behind the door. "Are you decent?"

"Half," she responded, and Pein obviously didn't care about it as the door opened and he stepped inside. His Akatsuki cloak was opened, and she could see some of his piercings through the mesh of his shirt.

He eyed her momentarily and Sakura held her breath as his leer traveled down her body, to her legs. Instinctively, she stepped backwards and felt relieved as Pein's eyes went back to her face. "How are your chakra supplies?"

"Low," she responded softly. "Healing Itachi took most of it, and closing the worst of Sasuke's wounds was incredibly hard, even after Konan-san donated some of her chakra to me."

Pein nodded. "The younger Uchiha is asleep in room twenty-nine. Deidara is there to guard him. Feel free to visit him."

Grateful, Sakura bowed deep, but as Pein turned to leave, she softly called out to him. "Pein-san?"

"Yes?" he said, glancing over his shoulder.

"What about Itachi-san?"

He turned to face her completely now, his grey eyes almost puzzled as he considered her for a moment. She stood perfectly still, holding her towel with one hand while the other one was balled in a fist.

Disheartened, Sakura wondered whether she was stupid in asking him that question.

"This is interesting," Pein replied smoothly. "I thought you wanted us all dead, yet here you're inquiring how Itachi is doing."

"I'm a medic," Sakura retorted after a small, uncomfortable pause. "It would be bad if one of my patients died after I spent so much chakra trying to heal him."

To her greatest surprise, Pein smiled vaguely before turning around. Just as he stepped through the threshold, he halted and calmly said: "Room twenty-seven. No guards, but I trust you will not kill him."

"I won't," Sakura said with a faint smile.

"Waste of chakra," Pein said dryly as he walked away.

* * *

Deidara seemed to understand when she walked into the room as he greeted her politely and said he'd wait outside.

She sat completely still, watching his chest heave with every labored breath he took. Though his breathing was still strained, it sounded a whole lot better than a couple of hours ago.

He was still unconscious, and for that she was grateful, because when he woke, she wouldn't have the chance to touch that silky, short hair of his. Or his soft skin.

Sakura sighed softly as she laid her head on Sasuke's pillow, her hands softly touching the strands of raven hair. Even though it was spiked on the back, it soft and she could comb her fingers through effortlessly.

Her fingers moved from his hair to his soft cheeks, down to his masculine jawline, all the way down to his chin and then up to his lips. Slowly, savoring the moment, she touched his bottom lip, imagining how it would be to feel his lips on hers.

Acting on impulse and the intense longing to be desired by someone like Sasuke, to be held by him and feel as safe as she felt when he saved her, Sakura bent forward and softly kissed his lips. It was chaste and quick, but for her, it lasted an eternity.

His thin, warm lips against her were as close as she could come to salvation and she wanted to last a lifetime.

But the moment would not last as Sasuke began to stir underneath her.

When he opened his eyes, all he saw was the wooden door softly closing.

* * *

He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so weak, but he imagined feeling pains like these often. Whenever he saw Kisame doubled over after getting nearly beaten by a Hakumei member, or when Deidara came back from his mission with only one arm, he would often imagine what it felt like to be hurting.

He was Uchiha Itachi.

Nobody could even come close to touch him, much less hurt him. Pain was a concept he had never understood, but his own brother had taught him that lesson.

His eyesight was blurry and with his fingers, Itachi felt the bandages wrapped firmly around his abdomen, slowly remembering the last moments of the battle.

Sasuke's chakra was down to his last reserves and suddenly he exploded into a final attack which came in the form of a huge chidori. There was a lot of chirping and blood and then… nothing.

Itachi coughed out a laugh. He knew Sasuke had potential, but that the little brother that always trailed behind him could become the ruthless man that stood before him – it impressed him, and he was not easily impressed at all.

"If you ask me, you have little to laugh about," a voice came from his left. Itachi immediately identified it as Sakura's and relaxed as much as he could, but the fact that she had been there all along and he hadn't sensed her was something he could not comprehend.

"You have a concussion. That's why you haven't sensed me. You were wondering about that, right?" Sakura continued, sounding awfully clinically.

"How bad is it?" Itachi questioned, opening his eyes. His eyesight was blurry and the bright lights in the room hurt his weakened eyes.

"You had a hole in your chest and were close to having a punctured lung. Two broken ribs, a severe concussion, you were bleeding from your eyes when we found you, so I assume you overused your doujutsu."

"Sasuke?"

"… Was in a better state than you when we found you."

"And he's alive." It was a statement rather than a question. "Pein probably took him along as well."

"You guessed well," Sakura said. Itachi turned his head towards where she was sitting, detecting the bitter tone in her voice.

"You're angry," he said simply.

"You attacked Sasuke," she hissed in his ear.

"On the contrary, Sakura. Sasuke attacked me. It was self-defense."

She said nothing. Instead, Sakura put her hand on his eyes. "Lay still. Pein ordered me to heal you and that's what I'll do in order to get away from you."

Itachi lay perfectly still as she initiated the healing process. Warm chakra spilled over his face, her warm hands warming his cold cheeks as she leaned over him. "How long have I been unconscious?"

"Two days," Sakura said calmly. "Sasuke awoke yesterday. Kisame is drawing his chakra regularly to ensure that he doesn't escape. Deidara guards him well. Are all of you Akatsuki members trained to be watch dogs or does Pein just treat you as such?"

Within a split second, Itachi had grabbed her fists and pulled her up to the bed. He opened his eyes, eyesight better, but still slightly blurry, his head was pounding, but he ignored all of it as he stared down hard at Sakura.

"You insult me," Itachi said plainly, no malice or anger in his tone.

"Are you going to kill me, Uchiha Itachi?" she taunted.

He almost grinned at her futile attempts. "Sasuke is here. Chakraless, bedridden."

From what he could distinguish, her face changed from amused to thoroughly upset. She gritted her teeth; he could hear them scraping over each other. Her hand came up as she pushed him off her, which proved to be an easy task with Itachi weakened.

He retaliated, grabbing a handful of her hair as he nearly pulled her on top of him, one of his hands wrapping around her neck while both of hers wrapped around his. Itachi's other arm was trapped under her leg.

"This is a compromising position."

"I'll kill you, Uchiha Itachi," Sakura whispered hoarsely. "I'll kill you for touching Sasuke."

"Sasuke? The man who has forgotten about you?" He let go of her hair, dropping his hand down to her hip. "The one you desperately wanted to see, even though he can't remember you."

Itachi smirked, not holding back anymore. "You are weak."

"At least I'm not a selfish bastard like-"

"Sasuke."

"I want to slap you right now."

He made an amused sound and softly started kneading the soft, firm flesh of her hips as her fingers wrapped tighter over his throat.

"Let go of me, Itachi," she whispered dangerously soft.

"You're holding on to me."

With an irritable sigh, Sakura let go of his neck and he promptly let go of her hip, allowing her to climb off him again. She was breathing harshly, still pumped by her anger and most probably, the fact that she could have killed him if she wanted to.

"I believe you were going to heal me," he said quietly. Playtime was over and it was time she healed him. Though he had fun, the throbbing in his head had increased and the fact that his eyes were even less sharp than usual annoyed him.

"I believe you were going to sit still," came the reply.

Amused, Itachi leaned back and said nothing as Sakura continued the healing process.

"I need to speak to Pein after you're done."

"I'm sure you do."

Itachi bit back a laugh as he tried to remember the last time he was so thoroughly amused by someone's behavior. It didn't take long for him to realize the last time he had laughed for real was when Sasuke was younger and drove his father insane by crying all the time.

* * *

Sasuke was sitting up straight when she opened the door and peeked inside.

He glanced up momentarily, eyeing her, before continue looking out of the window.

"May I enter?" she asked quietly, almost as if she was afraid to be heard.

"Do as you wish," Sasuke replied shortly, his deep voice drifting through the room.

She stepped inside and bowed to Deidara, who greeted back with his usual grin, stood up and exited the room quietly.

As she moved towards Sasuke, she held up the tray of food she had brought to him. "I brought you something to eat," Sakura said nervously, attempting to smile genuinely. "Some rice, fruits and soup. I wasn't quite sure what you liked so I took a little of everything we have for supplies."

"Who are you?" he questioned, his dark eyes looking back and forth at hers. Apparently he ignored the entire story about dinner as he didn't even acknowledge the tray she put on the table next to the bed.

Sakura sat down on the small chair. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I'm from Konoha."

"A missing nin?" Sasuke began. "No. You're not Akatsuki. A hostage then?"

"Something like that," she smiled sadly, gesturing to the food. "I was from Konoha until I was a small child. Orochimaru kidnapped me then and I was forced to work for him as a medic. I met you while working for him."

His eyes were bland, as emotionless as Itachi's Sharingan, but looks could be deceiving. She knew there was so much more inside of him, more than just the avenger everybody said he was. Sasuke was not like Itachi; of that she was sure.

"I can't seem to remember you."

_Seems he saves a lot of dames in distress if he can't remember a girl with pink hair, _she thought. "It was outside a village in Grass. I was harassed by a couple of men; you knocked them down and carried me to an inn in the village."

Sakura smiled as she tucked a strand of bubblegum hair behind her ear. "I was crying constantly. You asked me whether I was okay, and I was, I wasn't injured. I guess I was just young and crying seemed like a simple option. And then you told me I was annoying."

Sasuke took a bite from one of the apples she had taken along for him.

Swallowing hard, she continued. "You smiled while saying it though. And it shut me up, that's for certain."

"I see," was all he said before taking another bite. Sasuke seemed to be mulling things over as he chewed on his apple. His dark eyes were focused on his sheets.

"What of Itachi?"

Sakura's smile turned into a vicious grin as she remembered the state Itachi was in when she found him. "You nearly had him. They forced me to heal him."

He gritted his teeth and threw the half eaten apple back onto his plate. Folding his hands, Sasuke stared outside, leaning on his hands as he thought things over. "I'll come back later," Sakura said, acknowledging the fact that she thought he needed some rest amd time to think things over.

"You said you were from Konoha," Sasuke said, still looking outside. "How long since you've been there?"

"Ten years," she whispered quietly.

Sasuke nodded. "Konoha is peaceful."

She smiled, immensely excited to hear something about her home country. She lingered, waiting to see if Sasuke had more new to tell her.

"The Third died a couple years ago," Sasuke said quietly. "Tsunade, one of the Sannin trained by the Third is now leading Konoha.

"What is she like?" Sakura asked breathlessly.

"I never met her. I left Konoha just after she started as the Godaime."

"I see," she said, a little disappointed. "I'll go now. Enjoy your food." Sakura turned to leave the room, wrapping her Akatsuki cloak closer around her to try and block out the cool winds that blew around this time of year.

"Sakura," Sasuke suddenly called out.

She turned around, shocked that he was calling her by name. Shocked but not offended. "Yes?"

Sasuke relinquished his stare at the world outside as he faced her, a small smirk playing around his thin lips. "I'm glad you've stopped the constant crying."

Her eyes widened and she smiled widely as she bowed deeply. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun," was all she could say. And then she hastily made her way out of the room, afraid to prove him wrong by crying right then and there.

* * *

_**A/N: **__Told you this one would be quicker!_

_I thought I should tell you I updated my profile with two interviews held with me, for anyone who is interested! And I hope you all enjoyed this chapter._

_See you next time!_

_-- MitsukiShiroi_


	8. Chapter 8

**Twilight – an Itachi & Sakura story.  
****By: MitsukiShiroi**

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

_**A/N: **_

_I will sing for crescent moon,  
__Dancing with the castanets,  
__As the end will come so soon  
__In the land of twilight._

_Kajiura Yuki – In the Land of Twilight, Under the Moon._

**Chapter Eight – Dauntless**

The warm hand that suddenly clamped over her mouth immediately woke her from her sleep. Instinctively, Sakura grasped the kunai next to her futon, all the while admonishing herself for being such a horrible kunoichi, to not even hear someone enter the room.

As she brought her kunai to the face of her attacker, a soft voice called out. "Sakura, it's me."

Her eyes widened as she recognized the voice. He removed his hand from her mouth and her voice was no more than a hoarse whisper as she mumbled: "Kimimaro?"

"Shh," Kimimaro whispered back. "I came to get you."

"Akatsuki," she managed to get out. "They watch me."

"No longer," Kimimaro said quietly. "I suppose they trust you to stay put now that they have Uchiha Sasuke here."

"How long have you been here?" Sakura questioned, sitting up straight.

Kimimaro's face was barely visible in the dimly lighted room, but she could easily see his calming smile. "A day or two. I couldn't just leave you in the hands of these… volatile pigs."

"I'm not quite sure if they're worse than Hakumei," Sakura whispered back. "Speaking of which…"

"Everybody in the building got eliminated. I heard Kabuto got away though, and I was spared for some reason," Kimimaro replied bitterly.

Sakura bit her lip, knowing exactly why Kimimaro was spared. She recalled the deal she had made with Pein even to the last detail of that day, the way Pein scrutinized her and Sasori had took her around to show he wasn't lying. But to tell Kimimaro that she had made a deal to keep him alive and let the others die… in his eyes, it would be unforgivable and the thought of Kimimaro being angered at her pained her.

"You wouldn't have happened to hear anything about why they spared me, did you?" Kimimaro queried softly.

She forced herself to look him in the eye. "No, I haven't," Sakura replied, lying through her teeth. "I've basically been locked up in my room with an Akatsuki member holding guard."

Kimimaro nodded. "Well, let's get out of here then. I've been to the other rooms and they're all sound asleep or in discussions with one another. This is the time to leave."

Sakura shook her head. "No, Uchiha Sasuke is here as well. I told you about him before, haven't I? I can't just leave him behind."

"The younger Uchiha has guards in his room," Kimimaro said. "I can get you out now, but not if we have to get Sasuke out. If we battle an Akatsuki member, you can be sure the other eight will be there in a flash."

"Kimimaro," Sakura said resolutely, grabbing the sleeve of his Hakumei uniform. "I refuse to leave here without Sasuke-kun. If it's impossible, then leave without me.'

"With these pigs?" Kimimaro hissed back.

"Hakumei and Akatsuki are the same for me. I'm always an unwilling tool, Kimimaro," Sakura shook her head. "The only difference between organizations is that you're in one of them, and I'd love to go with you, but I won't leave Sasuke-kun."

Kimimaro observed her for a little while as she sat up straight in her futon, her sheets clutched in her hands with knuckles almost white with anger. The look in her eyes was one he hadn't seen since the years she began in Hakumei; she was determined about something again, something he hadn't thought of possible after years of learning about her apparent blandness about everything.

"Is he so important to you?" Kimimaro asked, tucking a white strand of hair behind his ear.

Sakura closed her eyes as a small smile played around her lips. "Yes."

Kimimaro nodded. "He's guarded?"

"By one Akatsuki member at a time. They change guards every twelve hours. They did the same for me," Sakura replied, wondering where this was going.

"Who is guarding him now?" Kimimaro asked.

"Deidara. Blond haired guy with one skyblue eye. Moderately tall."

She didn't even have to describe him; Deidara's face was forever etched into his mind after he was left in that inn without having a proper death. He could never forget that smirking, arrogant face of his.

Kimimaro cursed softly under his breath. "Uses explosives, right?"

"Yes, exploding clay," Sakura replied quietly. "Did you see him during the raid?"

"Fought him," Kimimaro said, pressing his finger to his forehead. "He molds the clay into form using the mouths on his hands right? And he has different sorts of clay, for every occasion possible."

"That's the one," Sakura answered. "And then there's the other part of the shift, Sasori. He works with-"

"Puppets. He's a puppeteer, red hair, usually hiding inside a puppet named Hirako. Former partner of Orochimaru-sama. Definitely strong but not invincible," Kimimaro summed up. "I remember the files we had about Akatsuki," he said sheepishly as he noticed Sakura staring at him.

"That means you're definitely the most well-read person in Hakumei," Sakura joked and smiled as she heard Kimimaro's soft laughter.

"Still second to Kabuto, as always," Kimimaro joked back. "I doubt he does anything but read in his spare time."

"Kissing up to Orochimaru, perhaps?" Sakura biting on her lip to stop herself from laughing as she noticed Kimimaro's shocked look before it transformed into a wide laugh.

"Back to business now, before they notice us," Kimimaro said after a fit of silent laughter. "Here's our battle plan. I assume that you've visited Sasuke whenever you could?"

"I tried, but it's hard to talk to him and I can only go when Deidara is on shift. Sasori doesn't allow the visits. He barely allows it that I greet Sasuke-kun from the threshold. Whenever Deidara stands guard however, he leaves me alone with Sasuke so that I can talk to him with a little bit of privacy."

"During those moments, where does Deidara go to?"

"He's always on the hallway when I step out of the room, so I assume he stays there throughout my entire visit. That way, if I move, Deidara will immediately hear and knowing him, barge in."

"And Sasori does not leave the room?" Kimimaro questioned.

"No, never," Sakura said, shaking her head. "I tried to-"

Before she could even finish her sentence, Kimimaro clamped his hand over her mouth again, green eyes turned to the door of her room. As his eyes narrowed slighty, Sakura could faintly hear the calm stride of someone walking in the corridor outside and the corresponding, monstrous amount of chakra.

_Kisame!_ She thought, and turned to Kimimaro who sat completely still, his handsome face grim. Immediately Sakura felt that he was quickly hiding his chakra, making it seem as though there was only one person in the room.

But Kisame passed the room without saying anything; she could faintly hear him whistle uncharacteristically. Kimimaro calmly removed his hand after Kisame passed by the room. "I forgot to hide my chakra," Kimimaro whispered hoarsely, shaking his head. "My apologies. I thought he had sensed me."

"It happens," Sakura reassured him. "But nobody noticed you. They'd be long here if they felt another chakra source here."

"Probably," Kimimaro said as he smiled gently. "Now, let's go over the plan."

* * *

Kisame stepped inside the room he was sharing with Itachi and was surprised to find the Uchiha out of bed. He was sitting on the windowframe, looking up at the moon, seemingly completely lost in thought.

"You seem almost sad, Itachi-san," Kisame said in his raspy voice, removing the thick Akatsuki cloak from her shoulders.

The Uchiha didn't even glance at him, but kept staring outside. "A storm is coming," Itachi said finally, quietly. "Looks like it's going to rain."

Kisame stepped up to the window, leaned over Itachi's leg and glanced outside, dumbfounded to find the sky shot through with stars and not a single cloud to be seen during this clear night. "I somehow doubt it, Itachi-san."

Itachi turned to meet Kisame's round eyes, blood-red Sharingan looking back and forth between them. Something changed in his eyes then as he apparently dismissed Kisame, turning his intense gaze back to the world outside.

Kisame shrugged as he stepped away from the window and removed his mesh shirt as well, walking towards their shared bathroom as something suddenly demanded his attention. He glanced back over his shoulder to Itachi and asked: "How are your injuries?"

"The kunoichi healed most of them," came the quiet reply.

"Good," Kisame said, at a loss of words. It didn't happen often that Itachi was behaving like this, but over the years Kisame had learned to dismiss his behavior and just wait until he was acting like the old Itachi again. Any wrong word he outed during Itachi's dark mood could end up with a kunai to his neck.

Kisame would never forget the time that he made a wrong remark during one of Itachi's moods and ended up with a kunai in his stomach and some very threatening words. He wasn't easily intimidated by anyone, but Itachi somehow managed to get under his skin and freak him out with just a single glance.

He shrugged again and stepped into the bathroom, grinning as he thought about the fight between the two Uchiha siblings and how killing it must be for Sasuke to be lying in a room close to a wounded Itachi and not being able to do anything.

* * *

She knocked on the door softly, afraid that she might wake Sasuke up, in case he was already asleep. It faintly occurred to her that she knew so little of Sasuke; Sakura wasn't even sure what time he went to sleep.

Sakura waited impatiently, calming down only when she heard Deidara's muffled footsteps on the other side of the door. He opened it and stared at her, dark circles under his one sky-blue eye. "Sorry to bother you at this time of night Deidara-san. I couldn't sleep so I thought I might visit Sasuke-san," she lied effortlessly.

He yawned. "The Uchiha is asleep… yeah," Deidara answered with a grin. "But if you really want to, you could go to him. He does have quite a temper when he wakes before having plenty of sleep though. That's what Sasori no danna told me."

Deidara stepped aside, letting Sakura inside the room. It was even darker than hers and she blinked several times, allowing her eyes to get used to the darkness. Sakura turned around, glancing over her shoulder as Deidara calmly shut the door and paced back to the chair in the corner of the room. "Sorry," he said with another wide grin. "I know you like your privacy, but I'm tired and the hallway is cold. It's not as if you'll have an entire conversation with him anyway… yeah."

"Its fine," Sakura replied calmly, smiling sweetly. But on the inside, she felt like screaming and prayed that Kimimaro would first listen before coming in to get Sasuke. If Deidara noticed him, he'd definitely send his explosives to work and than Kimimaro would have to fight against the entire organization. Not the most ideal situation.

She sat down on the chair near the bed, pretending to be watching over Sasuke as she formed the seals for a medical jutsu that would knock Deidara out. As she took a sneak peek to the blond sitting on the chair, Sakura noticed that he was nodding off, arms crossed tightly over his chest as his legs stretched out.

Sakura took a deep breath, dashed towards Deidara, whose head immediately snapped up as he heard the chair fall, but by that time, she had reached him already. She was so close to touching his chest with her jutsu, but Deidara had lightning quick reflexes as he caught her wrist just before it made contact.

"Naughty girl… yeah," Deidara said, apparently amused. "That jutsu would hurt me pretty bad. Too bad I wasn't asleep huh? … Yeah."

"This might hurt also," Kimimaro suddenly appeared next to Deidara, holding him in one place with one hand while one of Kimimaro's bones pricked into Deidara's neck.

Deidara glanced at Kimimaro. "Hakumei huh?" he said, grinning. "Let me show the both of you that art is a… bang… yeah."

Even before the words came out of his mouth, Deidara snapped his fingers and they could hear an explosion coming from somewhere further down the inn. Sakura stared at Deidara, wide-eyed, while Deidara merely shrugged. "I have no doubt that whatever you'll do to me, Pein will make it ten times worse."

"Sakura," Kimimaro said then, retracting the bone into his hand. "Go."

She accumulated the chakra back into her hand, and hit Deidara on the chest, instantly knocking the wind out of his lungs. Hastily, Kimimaro rushed to Sasuke, who apparently was wide awake as he stood next to the bed. "Introductions come later," Kimimaro said, pushing Sasuke towards one of the rooms. "Akatsuki is on their way, make haste."

Sasuke was already out of the window by the time Kimimaro finished speaking and Kimimaro followed him quickly. By the time Sakura reached the windowframe, the door was opened and Hidan stood there with Kakuzu; behind them was Kisame and Konan.

"Sakura!" Kimimaro called, but she wasn't listening as she quickly gathered her chakra into her leg and kicked the nearest wall. It exploded into dozens of tiny pieces of debris, obstructing the way from the door to the window where she was standing and effectively tore down a part of the ceiling as well.

Hidan cursed violently as he jumped away from the entire scene, Kakuzu in tow, while Konan and Kisame dashed through the hallway towards the entrance in an attempt to catch up to the runaways. Halfway through the hallway, Pein appeared, glancing outside through one of the windows.

He held up his hand and outside, it started pouring instantly.

Pein turned to Konan and Kisame. "I'll go. Konan, I want you with me. Hidan and Kakuzu will follow us as well. Kisame, back to the room and await further orders. Should we need you, I'll send Zetsu."

Kisame grunted in response and turned to share the orders with Hidan and Kakuzu, but Konan remained. She tucked a blue strand of hair behind her ear as she stepped closer towards Pein. "You seem tired," she mentioned, noticing the faint dark lines under his eyes.

Pein sighed softly. "The jutsu is hard to keep up when I can't even sleep enough to restore my chakra," he admitted quietly, feeling more comfortable now that he was alone with Konan.

She gently touched his cool cheek with her hand, a rare sign of affection. "I know. We will find them quickly."

He nodded, placing his hand over hers. Konan was the only one he could trust in the entire organization. Sure, he had favorites, like Deidara and Itachi, but Konan was his friend, the one that knew him when he was just that miserable figure.

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly as he removed her hand from his cheek, but never broke the contact. They never openly displayed their affection for one another; they both even refused to say out loud that it was affection, but these little things made Pein feel like he was alive and he couldn't deny that it was a good feeling either.

"Stay here," Konan said then. "I can handle this with Hidan and Kakuzu. Take some rest and try to sleep. By the time you wake, we'll have them back."

Pein stared at her with his intense eyes, looking back and forth at her azure orbs before nodding, albeit hesitantly. "Go."

He didn't have to say it twice as Konan disappeared into thin air, and seconds later, he could feel Hidan and Kakuzu's chakra disappearing as well, making their way to the three ninjas that just escaped their grasp.

With an uncharacteristically deep sigh, Pein held up his hand again and waved the rain away, instantly losing track of Sakura and the others. He hoped that he had made the right decision and with Konan's instructions in mind, Pein made his way back to his room, hoping to get some rest.

* * *

"The rain stopped," Sakura noticed, glancing up to the bright sky again. "Pein probably found us by now, otherwise he couldn't cease the rain so abruptely."

They were moving quickly from branch to branch, Sasuke leading the way with Kimimaro and Sakura following him. Despite being mortally injured, Sakura had apparently done a good job when it came to healing his wounds as Sasuke moved around easier than she had seen him in days.

He jumped with a certain grace and confidence in every step, as though Sasuke was completely certain that they had gotten away without too much hassle.

"How many will be chasing us?" Kimimaro questioned Sakura, apparently aware of their pursuit.

"I can sense three, and I guess that'll be the maximum for now. It depends on the people to see in how much trouble we are," Sakura assessed the situation quickly, concentrating on the chakra levels of those behind them. "You and I can make a fight and Sasuke-kun might be able to join us in, but if they're the stronger Akatsuki members, we'll be in a lot of trouble."

"Remind me again, which ones are the strongest?" Sasuke asked, glancing over his shoulder to the pair following them.

"Pein, naturally, with Hidan and Kakuzu would be problematic. From what Kisame told me about them, Hidan is immortal and Kakuzu has several lives or something like that. Itachi-san would be problematic, but he's currently unable to fight. Kisame would be a hard opponent as well, and I'm not sure how strong Konan and Sasori are," Sakura summed up.

"Basically, we have no chance," Kimimaro replied dryly, raising his eyebrows.

"No, we don't," Sakura shook her head. "I used most of my chakra on healing Itachi-san and Sasuke-kun for the past days, so I'm low anyway. You're ill, and you can't fight for extended amounts of time. Sasuke-kun is still injured and unable to fight at his full capacity."

Sasuke halted on a branch and turned to face them completely. Both Kimimaro and Sakura couldn´t stop in time and landed on another branch just farther ahead. "What is it, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura questioned, knowing that they couldn't wait for much longer otherwise Akatsuki would get closer and closer to them, and with it, the prospect of battle.

"Let's go back to ninja basics," Sasuke suggested. "They're too strong for us to handle right now, which means that we'll end up dead, or in the same position as before."

"What do you suggest?" Kimimaro asked.

Sasuke smirked. "We hide our chakra and get away from the main road. After they pass us, we'll be able to get away from our hiding place and make for the next large town."

"We flee?" Kimimaro asked incredulously.

"We make sure we live…" Sakura replied, nodding as she agreed with Sasuke's decision. "This is the best option we have right now."

Kimimaro glanced from Sasuke to Sakura and back, mulling over the entire situation. He then, grudgingly agreed with them. "Let's move out to a place where we can hide well."

* * *

"Konan," Hidan called out to the female Akatsuki member. "I can't feel them anymore."

Apparently Kakuzu had the same problem as he cursed softly behind the cloth that hung in front of his stitched-up mouth. Behind them, Konan was focusing harder and harder, attempting to their prey again, but to no avail. "Me neither," she said then, gritting her teeth in frustration, admonishing herself for telling Pein to go back to sleep and cease the rain.

"Then they're hiding," Kakuzu said raspily. "They're surpressing their chakra, which means they don't have the strength to fight the three of us right now. A wise decision."

"And all the more fucked for us," Hidan said irritably.

Konan sighed deeply and stopped on one branch to inspect the mark of sandals on the wood. "They've come down this way and they didn't get much of a head start, so they should be closeby." After observing that, Konan stood up again and formed some handseals.

Immediately, her skin began to peel off her face, neck and hands and formed into small birds as they circled around them. With another hand seal they flew off into different directions as Konan sat down on the branch, propping a knee up.

"Now what?" Hidan sneered. "Are we going to sit here until they pop up?"

He was rewarded with one of Konan's best glares. "The birds scout for those three. I can pinpoint their location within minutes if you'd just shut up for once and allow me to do my job."

"Ouch," Kakuzu said, amused by the entire situation.

Konan closed her eyes, concentrating deeply as she used the eyes of her bird one by one, attempting to find the pink haired kunoichi and her companions. She ignored Hidan as he violently cursed at Kakuzu and as he threw a kunai towards his partner, wishing for an instant that Pein was there. At least they behaved when he was around.

She smirked as she suddenly noticed a blue sandal sticking out of a small shrub, not far from where they were standing. Konan directed the bird to fly around it and it landed behind the person hiding there. From her new perspective point, she could see the white-haired boy, Kimimaro, staring intently at the sky, rather than behind him.

"Found them. They're hiding in the bushes not far from here," Konan announced and was pleased to see that Hidan and Kakuzu immediately stopped to bicker and they both stood up. Hidan grabbed his pink scythe while Kakuzu rolled up the sleeves of his Akatsuki cloak.

"Are we allowed to kill? Jashin will get angry at me if I don't finish off a kill for once," Hidan said, stretching his neck.

"Feel free to kill Kimimaro. Sakura and Sasuke are to be brought back to Pein, alive."

"I get dibs on the Kaguya," Hidan said, smirking at Kakuzu, who shrugged and merely said: "I'm fine with both."

"Follow me and be quiet," Konan said, surpressing her chakra as she jumped away, quiet as a mouse.

* * *

"I can't feel their presences anymore," Sakura whispered through the thick foliage, hoping both of the men would hear her.

"I can't either," Sasuke replied back, whispering as quietly as she had done.

"Neither can I," Kimimaro said softly. "They're probably pulling the same stunt as we are."

But he hadn't even finished his sentence as he felt an enormous chakra level right behind him. Shocked, Kimimaro whirled around, a bone moving out of his body as he noticed the silver-haired Akatsuki member called Hidan standing behind him.

"Surprise," Hidan said with a big smile. "Jashin will be proud of me today."

Without being able to avoid it, Hidan's scythe moved in quickly and Kimimaro's hand was sliced open as he tried to avoid it hitting his skin. "Is that all you've got?" Kimimaro replied tauntingly, standing up as he pulled another one of his bones from his body. "I'm from the Kaguya clan, we work with bones. A little wound like that one will heal in no time."

Hidan smirked as he brought the scythe to his mouth and licked the blood off the pink blades as his sadistic smile increased. Kimimaro blinked in shock as Hidan's skin turned black. "I'm afraid this is quite an unusual wound," Hidan said, eyeing Sakura and Sasuke as they jumped out of their bushes, meeting Konan and Kakuzu in battle. "Do you want to say goodbye to your friends or should I end your life right now?"

Kimimaro's reply was to charge forwards, holding his precious katana crafted from his own bones in his hands. He ignored the flaming pain in his throat and thought of his beloved master and tutor, who sat somewhere in the middle of nowhere, waiting for his former favorite student to return, though Kimimaro would never return to the place where Orochimaru would be waiting.

* * *

_**A/N: **__I loved writing this chapter! It's been a while since everything just flowed perfectly and that's what happened to this chapter._

_Two more chapters left now that this one is done!_

_See you next time!_

_-- MitsukiShiroi_


	9. Chapter 9

**Twilight – an Itachi & Sakura story.**

**By: MitsukiShiroi**

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

_**A/N: **__My muse is a slavedriver. I swear, he's cracking the whip as we speak._

**Chapter Nine – Loveless**

It was as though Pein was mocking her with the rain that started to fall soon after she witnessed the fall of Kimimaro. It started as a drizzle, just a few drops here and there, but intensified as she valiantly fought against Konan, tears streaming down her cheeks as she saw Kimimaro fall down, apparently punctured by a large hole in the chest.

She wanted to run to him as she saw the blood staining her brilliantly white kimono, making the Hakumei insignia impossible to see. But soon after falling down, Kimimaro stood up again, seemingly moving on willpower alone as he straightened himself.

Soon, as Sakura dodged another one of Konan's kunai, she could see that his curse seal had spread over his body and turned his skin a light shade of brown.

She fought with the deep desire to run towards him and battle Hidan for Kimimaro, but Konan was putting up a heavy fight and Sakura had to fight with all her might as she threw back some shuriken, deflecting Konan's kunai.

The blue-haired girl jumped into the air, forming some handseals. Immediately, her entire body turned into paper and wings akin to angel wings grew on her back. For a moment, Sakura stood completely still, staring at the beautiful woman that flew above her head.

Konan stared back at her, her azure eyes locked on Sakura's emerald orbs. Konan's eyes widened as she made another hand seal; her wings immediately scattered into a thousand paper shuriken and flew towards Sakura with tremendous speed.

Sakura moved with the speed of light as she dodged most of the shuriken, using replacement jutsu as she cleverly hid on top of one of the branches of the tree behind Konan, using the thick foliage as a cover.

"I'm not going to die," Sakura whispered quietly. "I'm not going to die, I can do this. I'll dispose of Konan and then help Kimimaro."

It occurred to her that she hadn't seen Sasuke fight after a while and as she scouted the area, she could see Kakuzu's body on the ground, his head lying in a large pool of blood somewhat further.

And then she noticed that Sasuke was gone.

* * *

"Stubborn son of a bitch," Hidan cursed as Kimimaro dashed towards him, his tail swinging harshly behind him as he moved forward, pulling his spinal cord out of his back.

The Jashin worshipper raised his eyesbrows as he shoved his pike into his stomach, enjoying the perverted pleasure he gained from watching the blood spill from Kimimaro's stomach, slowly trailing down to his legs. Kimimaro halted midway, biting his lip so hard that it started bleeding, but even when Hidan shoved the pike deeper into his own body, Kimimaro dashed towards, determined to end Hidan's life.

Just before reaching the immortal man, Kimimaro disappeared into thin air and Hidan's eyes widened as he realized that Kimimaro had re-appeared behind him. In a blink, Kimimaro's spinal cord wrapped around Hidan's neck and with a final scream, Kimimaro severed Hidan's head.

It landed in the mud a few yards further while Hidan's body just fell down.

Kimimaro was about to sigh out of relief, but then Hidan's voice sounded from a few yards before him. Wide-eyed, he stared as he saw Hidan still glaring at him, viciously cursing him to death with all kinds of words that Kimimaro didn't even hear before.

"You little bastard! Jashin will have your sickly body," Hidan yelled at him, blood-shot eyes staring at Kimimaro. "Just wait until Kakuzu attaches me back to my body."

"I'm afraid it will never come to that," Kimimaro replied in turn as he stopped his cursed seal, his skin turning back to its normal color. He forced himself to walk towards Hidan's head who was still eyeing him while his waterfall of verbal insults continued and intensified as Kimimaro grabbed him up by his hair. "I'll dispose of you right now."

* * *

She jumped off the branch, using her chakra to give her extra speed as she rushed towards Konan, kicking her in the stomach.

But Konan apparently expected her to come as she blocked the kick with her arm, grabbed Sakura's leg and threw her towards another tree. She easily levitated from the place she was standing, using her paper wings to fly high until she could see her fellow organization members.

Hidan was not far from her, headless. On the other side of the field was Kakuzu, similarly dead. She gritted her teeth and glanced up to the sky, knowing that Pein knew about the fall of two of their organization members by now and that he'd be on his way.

Konan glanced back at the pink-haired kunoichi who stood on one of the largest branches, looking up at her, her eyes filled with hate and determination. She sighed softly, realizing that she had grossly underestimated Haruno Sakura and that she was regretting her instructions for Pein to stay behind.

"I'm a fool," Konan whispered to herself as she noticed Kimimaro returning to the battle scene, badly injured, but still walking.

"Stop this, Konan," Sakura called to her from her branch. "It's two against one."

"Uchiha abandoned you then?" Konan said calmly, frustrated with her current situation as she tried to buy more time. In the distance, she could feel Pein closing in on them, and she knew that he was hiding his chakra. Her assessment of him knowing perfectly what was going on was correct and she was glad that reinforcements were coming.

"It was to be expected though," Konan continued, stalling the fight even longer as she released her jutsu and dropped down until she landed on another branch across from Sakura. "He works for himself and his revenge. You didn't think he'd stay, did you, Sakura?"

Sakura crouched down, apparently readying herself for battle again. Konan closed her eyes momentarily, thinking of Yahiko and how he had left Pein and her to fight some crooks or bandits that would be closeby. He would wear the same determined expression Sakura was wearing now.

But Yahiko was different from Sasuke who would abandon those who rescued him, or the kunoichi that wanted to die rather than to serve the greatest organization in the world.

It almost saddened her as Pein arrived in between Sakura and Konan, glancing at Konan momentarily, with Yahiko's eyes. He still had Yahiko's hair, never cutting it shorter than Yahiko had it; Pein's favorite body was a living reminder of Yahiko.

"It seems your friends took out two of my organization members," Pein said icily, staring at Sakura who stood, absolutely shocked to see him appear suddenly. "This does not please me."

Driven by adrenaline from the battle and the knowledge that she would not come out of this battle alive, Sakura laughed at him. "Honestly, Pein, do you really think I'd care?"

He merely raised his eyebrows, not indicating that she had insulted him in any way. Pein cocked his head to the side a little, observing her, before the corners of his mouth turned upward. "Maybe not. But surely you care about the Kaguya boy?"

Eyes widened as Pein vanished and reappeared behind her, next to Kimimaro. He held a kunai to the Kaguya, while Kimimaro at the man that had appeared next to him. Kimimaro's emotions were hidden behind his poker face as he calmly regarded Pein.

"Let him go, Pein," Sakura said, gritting her teeth as she swallowed the lump that hard formed in her throat. The injustice of it all and the fact that they had almost won; they had come so close to escaping… all of it stung inside of her, a dull pain that welled up in her chest as she mulled over the past couple of hours.

"What will you offer me this time in exchange?" Pein asked, pressing the kunai into Kimimaro's pale throat. A thin line of blood seeped out of the wound and dripped down onto his white kimono. "Your services again? Or perhaps undying loyalty?"

"I never promised my services or loyalty," Sakura snapped. "You just assumed I would."

"Ah," Pein smirked, glancing at Kimimaro with his intense grey eyes. "I think we're leaving Kaguya-san out of the conversation here."

Sakura stepped forward, her eyes wide. "No, Pein."

"Or did you know Sakura-san here exchanged all information we needed to find all of you Hakumei members for a selfish deal to save your life?" Pein continued mercilessly, obviously amused as Kimimaro's mask broke. Shock crossed his face as he turned to Sakura, his severe eyes silently questioning her.

And Sakura closed her eyes and looked away, unable to see the disappointment as Kimimaro pieced everything together and finally understood. Sakura's absence during the final battle between Hakumei and Akatsuki, Deidara keeping him alive and the final words he had heard Deidara say to him about the deal.

"How dare you… you betrayed Orochimaru-sama…" his voice shook with anger. Green eyes shot daggers at Sakura's frail form standing on the lone branch, just a few meters away from him.

"But she saved your life," Pein said quietly.

But Kimimaro could care less.

He had trusted Sakura with his life during their years of being teamed up. Kimimaro had protected her from the sneering remarks of the other Hakumei members and tried his hardest to protect her from all harm. She had been like a little sister to him; someone he would eagerly give his life for if that could help her in any way.

And all the times he had talked to Orochimaru about letting her go.

But for Sakura, it was so easy to discard his own dreams. The thought of her even going to Akatsuki voluntarily was maddening and his blood boiled on the inside while his throat was burning painfully.

Before he could stop himself, he dashed towards her, a long bone growing out of the palm of his hand, the tip razorsharp as he thrusted it towards her.

… And then everything turned black.

Kimimaro halted mid-stride, a mere feet away from Sakura. But the body he had been forcing to move for months now, though it was broken and battered had finally given up on him. He coughed one last time, blood gushing out of his mouth, over his chin, and then he toppled over.

The very last thing he saw was the white flower he had been admiring just before Orochimaru had showed up and gave him a purpose in life.

He was dead before he reached the ground.

Sakura stood completely still for a few seconds, watching Kimimaro's unmoving body on the thick wood of the branch she was standing on. His eyes were half closed and his lips were upturned ever so slightly, as if he remembered a good memory just before dying.

Then it seemed as though the ground started moving, almost like a miniature earthquake and it didn't take long for her to realize that she was the one shaking. Immense sadness shot through her body as electricity, coupled with intense rage and helplessness. Desperate, shallow breaths escaped from her bloody lips, bitten violently in anguish. She was barely rational to hear the soft padding of Konan's footsteps on the floor and Pein's deep voice instructing something.

But even if she could hear what he had said, or wanted to move, she found herself unable to move, as if she were glued to the branch she was standing on. But it didn't matter to her anymore, she didn't want to move.

Finally, her legs gave out on her and she fell down, her hands grasping his still warm hand. His calloused hand felt large in her small hands and she let go of his hand, wrapping her arms around Kimimaro's still body, ignoring the blood that streamed over his knees as she moved to embrace him. She whispered his name over and over, louder and louder until she was screaming Kimimaro's name to the unanswering body that was in her hands, shaking him violently in a last ditch attempt to bring him back.

When the last of Pein's rain fell down, her tears finally streamed down her cheeks and mingled with Kimimaro's crimson blood, into the small stream that moved off the branch and landed somewhere on the muddy ground.

* * *

She wasn't sure when exactly she had passed out, but when she woke, Sakura was in a dimly lit room. The rough texture of the sheets that wrapped around her legs prickled uncomfortable and the air she inhaled was humid. The fresh pain of Kimimaro's death and the dull sense of betrayal stung her heart, making it hard for her to even think properly, much less rationalize where on earth she was now.

A rustle came from the other side of the room and she didn't even have to glance into that direction to understand where she was. Sakura could easily feel his crimson gaze on her, undoubtedly realizing that she was awake.

"He's dead," Sakura whispered quietly, still lying on her side, observing the sandy-brown color of the walls. "Pein told him that I betrayed Orochimaru. Kimimaro tried to kill me then, but he died just before reaching me. He died hating me."

A small pause ensued and Sakura wondered why she even bothered talking to him in the first place.

"And you wish that he had reached you before his heart stopped," Itachi stated, more than questioned. His deep voice drifted through the room, cutting through the silence that had been there after she spoke.

Sakura was still staring at the wall, tears dripping onto her pillow. She closed her eyes, uncaring about everything. Before the entire incident, she had hopes that Kimimaro had gone back to Orochimaru and was happy there. Because Kimimaro actually cared about Orochimaru and his hopes and ideals, whereas Sakura couldn't care less and actually wished that Orochimaru would just die. And when Kimimaro showed up seemingly to save the day, an opportunity had come to finally escape everything.

Without even considering Kimimaro's feelings, she had made the deal with Pein and paid the price. She was part of an organization again, had lost any chance of freedom and most importantly, she had betrayed her best friend.

She brought up her hand to clamp it over her mouth, stifling the sound of her sobbing as she curled up under the sheets, feeling utterly miserably. The feeling only intensified as she realized Itachi was still watching her. Sakura felt like a circus animal, trapped in Akatsuki's midst only to amuse them all and win them over with her healing abilities whenever Pein felt it necessary that she should demonstrate her powers to those who doubted her. It was all so unfair and so painful that she felt like behaving like a small child. All she wanted to do now was to throw a tantrum and beat up Pein's smug face that haunted her.

Suddenly, the bed dipped with the weight of another person sitting on the edge and Sakura stopped crying completely, knowing that Itachi just sat down on the edge of her bed. She stopped making any sounds, just listened to the silence that suddenly reigned over the room.

Eventually, she turned around and found Itachi staring at her, but with a gentle look in his eyes, his Sharingan gone. He just sat there, his Akatsuki cloak missing, as was his scratched hitae-ate, and he looked strangely soothing bathed in the morning moon's light.

Shocked, she continued to observe this new side of Itachi, or at least, the side he finally let her explore, even if he withheld the rest of him from her eyes. He might be a merciless killer as she always thought, and a ruthless man he most certainly was, but something in his eyes suggested that they weren't so different from eachother.

Bearing that thought in mind, Sakura straightened herself and moved forward to Itachi, who didn't move an inch. She wanted to do so many things. Just a normal, casual convo, without trying to silence him would be satisfying, or to touch the silky raven hair that rested on his shoulder.

Instead, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him.

The gesture alone might suffice for another shot of Tsukiyomi, or perhaps physical injuries, or whatever Itachi would like to do with her for invading his private space. But she couldn't care less as she allowed her tears to stream down her cheeks and onto Itachi's black shirt.

His body felt oddly warm against her cool skin and his warmth surrounded her quickly. She inhaled his scent, his addicting mix of musk and fire and it calmed her down until there were no more tears to cry. All the while, he didn't move, allowing her to use his shoulder to cry on.

She was afraid to let go, afraid that he might turn back into the cold, merciless Itachi that she had come to know, instead of this strange being that sat in front of her. Eventually, Sakura would have to let go, she realized that fully.

And then he touched her hair with his hand.

The gesture was calming and gentle and so unlike the Itachi she knew. For a moment, it scared her, as if the hand that was now calmly stroking her hair could pull it the next second and his eyes would have turned into pinwheels, ready to whisk her away for another 72 hours of pain.

"You're weak," the calm voice of Itachi whispered.

She smiled against his shoulder. "I know."

"You don't wish to fight me over this?"

"No," she whispered back. "Not tonight."

Finally, she leaned back, not quite sure what to expect. But Itachi's glance was still the same as it was before she embraced him. It was still unreadable, but he was showing some sort of emotion. Her eyebrows creased sadly as she realized that he probably didn't feel the pain that she felt after betraying Kimimaro.

His hand dropped down to the small of her back as he continued to look her in the eye.

"Why, Itachi-san?" she continued to whisper, watching every single move he made with a sad look in her eyes.

"I thought you had dropped the honorific, Sakura," Itachi replied, equally softly. "Why what?"

Sakura wasn't even quite sure what she was about to ask. Why did he kill the clan and betray Sasuke? Why was he holding her so gently, as if he actually cared about her in his own strange way? And why on earth was he suddenly showing emotion, as though he understood what she was going through.

Thousands of questions raced through her mind, demanding answers, but all of them were ignored as he leaned closer towards her. With every breath he exhaled, warm air tickled her cheek. As intimidated as she was by their proximity, nothing could have prepared her as Itachi's other hand slowly slid up her arm until it reached her cheek.

Gently, even gentler than she had ever expected Itachi to be, he cupped her cheek and caressed it with his calloused thumb. Without realizing it, she leaned closer until their mouths hovered only an inch away from each other.

"Itachi…" she breathed onto his lips, her own hand moving upwards to touch his soft hair, while her other one wrapped closer around his neck. She could feel the muscles of his back moving ever so lightly as he finally leaned forward and kissed her.

It was soft and chaste, but lingered as his masculine lips touched hers. She closed her eyes as Itachi pressed her closer to him, his chest almost touching hers. Sakura let go of his hair, wrapping her other arm around him as she leaned into the kiss, intent on making it last.

Itachi relinquished the innocent kiss and took a moment to observe her. His dark eyes were filled with no mockery and no blank look as usual. He looked young and filled with an emotion that she could not name. Perhaps the closest thing she could think of was desire, but even that word couldn't be used to describe it.

Instead of pondering over the issue, she leaned in for a second kiss and he granted her one. With his lips, he nudged hers and she complied by opening her mouth, allowing him to explore her mouth fully as she whimpered softly. His hand moved up into her hair and held her tightly, while his mouth worked its magic and let her heart race until she was sure it might pound out of her chest.

Finally, he broke the kiss, allowing Sakura to breathe as he trailed kisses up her jawline until he reached her neck. He nipped her earlobe, making Sakura gasp, and then moved down to taste the supple skin of her neck. Lost in delight and passion, Sakura moaned as he laid her down on the bed and started massaging her thighs.

"Ita…chi…" she managed to utter, tugging the tie that bound his hair up loose. He stopped kissing her momentarily to glance up at her face.

… And she froze.

Instead of Itachi's handsome face looking up at her, Orochimaru was staring up at her. Her breathing intensified as she remembered the long hours in Orochimaru's bedroom, him watching her every move as he moistened his lips with that abominable long tongue of his. He would watch her out of his own perverted sense of desire, as though she was but a mere pet of his. Long, pale fingers slid over her thighs instead of Itachi's sunbrowned fingers with his trademark purple nailpolish.

Sakura forced the images away into a far corner of her mind and forced herself not to think about it and to realize that it was Itachi on top of her now. And that she wasn't forced to do anything; if she knew anything about Itachi, Sakura was sure he wouldn't force her to do anything with him.

But Itachi had noticed her obvious tension and stopped with touching her. With his hands on both sides of her head, Itachi hovered above her, watching her as he tried to figure out why she was tense.

"I apologize," he said finally, still looking at her. He closed his eyes. "It seems I went too far."

Sakura shook her head, fighting back the urge to hurl. "No, Itachi, it's not you…"

Itachi re-opened her eyes and Sakura was saddened to see the usual emotionless look back into his eyes. Sharingan bled into the midnight blue right then and she realized that the moment had passed and that she would never see that side of Itachi again.

He pushed himself off her and gracefully made his way off the bed, back into his own little corner. Itachi sat down, leaned against the wall and crossed his arms and legs, closed his eyes and awaited the sunrise.

Sakura wanted to tell him, scream at him, and yell at him that it was Orochimaru and that she liked what Itachi did to her. She wanted to tell him the entire story, because she was confident that he might actually understand after the entire moment that went on.

Instead, she said nothing.

Embarrassment and shame stopped her from uttering a single word as she continued to stare at Itachi. Just a moment ago, he had been close to having sex with her and now it felt like they were seperated by time and space itself.

If only Akatsuki had attacked sooner, Orochimaru would have never had the chance to abuse her like he did and she wouldn't freeze up like she had just now. Another thing that Orochimaru had taken away from her, without him even having the right to do so.

If only Sasuke had whisked her away during the first time they met. If only she was strong enough to kill Orochimaru. If only she hadn't been at home when Orochimaru recruited members for Hakumei. If only her chakra control hadn't been above average.

If only, if only, if only…

Sakura cried silently and alone, never taking her eyes off Itachi, never ceasing to think about Sasuke and the precarious situation she was in now.

"… Orochi…maru…" she whispered eventually, quietly. But Itachi didn't move, or open his eyes. He just continued to sit completely still, as if he were mulling over something, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

Just as she was about to give up, he opened his eyes. The Sharingan was gone, leaving him with that dark stare he had. He turned to the side, as if he wanted to listen to the sounds on the hallway. And then he stood up, paced towards her and handed her his Akatsuki cloak that hung over one of the chairs that stood next to the bed.

"Put it on," Itachi instructed.

Confused by his request, Sakura followed his orders and got out of the bed. After closing the cloak halfway, Itachi nodded. "Come."

And she followed.

Even if he went to the end of the world, Sakura was sure that she'd follow him.

* * *

_**A/N: **__Mitsuki delivers._

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to see you all in the final chapter of Twilight!_

_-- Mitsuki Shiroi_


	10. Chapter 10

**Twilight – an Itachi & Sakura story.**

**By: MitsukiShiroi**

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

_**A/N: **__Final chapter!_

**Chapter Ten – Endless**

There was no rain when they left.

Pein apparently trusted Itachi completely when it came to guarding Sakura and had stopped his relentless storm. Sakura could only surmise that Pein was getting tired as well and that the rain was draining his chakra. After all, it should take a massive amount of power to influence the weather.

"Itachi-san… where are we going?" she questioned silently, drawing the cloak closer to her body, sniffing experimentally to see if the unique scent that belonged to Itachi also clung to the cloak he had lend her.

Itachi moved quickly in front of her, zigzagging through the dense forest like it was child's play. He stopped on top of a large fir tree, half standing underneath the deep shade. He seemed to be lost in though, as if the implications of his actions suddenly reared its ugly head as soon as she had spoken up.

No longer frightened by the Uchiha's very presence, Sakura moved until she stood right in front of him. Curious, she attempted to meet his eyes, trying to attract some attention. But the look in Itachi's eyes was blank, as if he were looking to some place far beyond her. He almost seemed troubled, but then he blinked and the usual alert, scarlet gaze was back as Itachi regarded her quickly.

"… Itachi?" she asked silently, barely audible.

"Be quiet," he answered, his crimson eyes turning to the skies. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Pein?" she whispered, finding it hard to speak out loud. The lump that hard formed in her throat wasn't going away, no matter how many times she swallowed hard.

"Hm," Itachi said, observing her for a brief second. "We need to make haste. It won't be long now before rain starts to fall."

He started to turn and resume the road that lied ahead of them, but Sakura quickly grabbed his arm. The warmth of his arm radiated through the dark fabric of his cloak, a comforting presence against her cool skin.

"Stop," she said, so quiet that for a moment, Sakura doubted if she had even said the word.

Itachi didn't turn toward her. He stood very still, as if he had turned into a statue on the spot. His muscles felt tense under her touch, and as she let go, he released his rigid pose and turned towards her.

"Yes, Sakura?" he questioned, looking back and forth between her eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" Sakura said, grabbing the front of his cloak as well, desperately wanting an answer. This was a man that hadn't shown her any affection until just a few hours ago, after days of humiliating her and degrading her. There was no way in hell that he would just bring her away from Akatsuki and ask nothing in return.

Itachi seemed to read her mind. "I expect something in return. But now is not the appropriate time to discuss the terms of our little exchange." He placed one of his large hands over the hand that was clasping his cloak. "Let's move on."

Before she could even say another word, Itachi grasped her wrist and jumped onto another branch, pulling her along with him, until she moved on her own. His fingers uncurled and let go of her. Sakura stared at his hand, longing for him to touch her again, in that gentle fashion of before.

"Shadowlands," she muttered quietly as they moved away from the forest, through a small piece of barren land. Small bones that belonged to animals lay on the ground and not far from their location could she see a fox searching around for food.

This has been the site of one of the most gruelling and hardest battles between Hakumei and Akatsuki. Though she hadn't actively participated in the fight, Sakura had to heal every single one of the wounded afterwards. Tayuya had been covered in burn wounds and another one of the sound ninja was poisoned to the point where she couldn't even think about saving him.

"Did you fight here?" Sakura asked, following Itachi without missing a beat. They moved across the desolate land fast.

"Look at the trees," Itachi said, pointing with one manicured finger to one of the few dead trees that still stood up straight. The bark was blackened with ash and no leaves adorned the branches.

"Burned," Sakura observed.

"I'm the only one in Akatsuki who uses fire attacks," Itachi said simply.

Sakura glanced at him. "So Tayuya…"

"Tayuya?" he prompted after a short pause.

"She came in with burns all over her body," Sakura said, almost accusingly. She bit her bottom lip, knowing that she made no sense at all. She hadn't cared about Hakumei at all, so why did the fact that Itachi burn Tayuya bother her so much?

Itachi made an amused sound, but didn't reply to her.

They increased their tempo, until she could finally see some living trees in front of her, and birds circling above the tree tops. A river ran near, Sakura could easily hear the musical sound of the stream as it headed downhill and for some reason, she felt oddly nostalgic.

"We move into the forest and then we'll take a break," Itachi instructed simply, jumping from one rock onto another one. He landed on the muddy ground and continued his dash for the forest.

Behind her, thunder crashed loudly and Sakura halted in her steps, turning around to see the storm that raged in the distance. Lightning flashed while dark clouds accumulated into what seemed a circle.

"Pein," Itachi said. He had apparently turned around as he stood next to her, observing the storm. "The jutsu reaches far, but we've outrun it. As long as he doesn't move, we should be able to stay inconspicuous for a little while longer."

"Itachi…" she started, but Itachi silenced her with one look.

"We'll talk later. Let's keep moving until we're a good distance away from the storm," Itachi said curtly. He pointed to the clouds that seemed to swirl into a different direction now. "Pein is moving."

Sakura swallowed hard, but nodded and kept up with Itachi as he sprinted away, crossed the last bit of the barren land that had once been a forest.

--

Uchiha Sasuke crouched down on top of a branch, overlooking the town he had left so many years ago.

Nothing had changed at all. As the sky bled reds and golds, Konoha was enveloped in bright rays of sunlight. It streamed over the shabby looking buildings and the crooked apartments near the wall that surrounded the city.

The large mountains that were located around the north of Konoha adorned another face and it seemed they finally fixed the fissure that had formed into the Third´s face after Orochimaru's attempt to take over Konoha.

He sat completely still, weighing his options.

Team Hebi was gone; Akatsuki had finished them easily and thoroughly. He had grossly underestimated Akatsuki and had definitely over-estimated the three that he picked up out of Orochimaru's lair.

In the village was the useless idiot he had left behind. But also emotional connections and fears that he had abandoned the second he stepped outside of Konoha.

Sasuke laughed under his breath, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I have no other place to go," he whispered softly to the wind. To go to Konoha was to face the consequences of his actions, but there was no other place he could go to for training now. Orochimaru had vanished somewhere, presumably dead if Akatsuki had found him.

With a sign, he sat down, propping one knee up, allowing his arm to rest on it while he tapped his lip with his finger.

--

They stopped near a small creek. Sakura rushed to the water, thankful for the quick break as she splashed water over her face. The icy water felt good against her flushed face. She dipped her hand underwater and drank some, glancing over at Itachi.

His face was set in a blank stare, gaze distracted as he looked over the water.

"Do you recognize this place?" Itachi said eventually, his voice no more than a quiet whisper.

Sakura shrugged. "I don't pay much heed to my surroundings. Trees and trees and rivers are rivers."

Itachi's lips turned up for a split second, but he didn't turn his gaze towards her. He seemed to be a million miles away, even though he was a few feet away from her. Itachi closed his eyes, his long, dark lashes caressing his cheeks.

When he opened them again, they were dark blue.

He glanced at her, then at some point farther away. "If you continue into that direction, you'll be in Konoha by nightfall."

Sakura's hands froze midway as she brought another handful of water to her lips. Her emerald eyes widened as she turned to face Itachi completely, throwing the water back in the creek. Sakura scrambled up and moved towards Itachi until she stood in front of him. "Why would you say that?"

Itachi didn't respond, but simply undid the buttons of his cloak, opening it up. Under the heat of the sun, he was undoubtedly frying inside, but the pause only annoyed her more and more. "Why would you say that, Itachi?" Sakura snapped, her teeth scraping over each other. "You're a cruel bastard."

"Perhaps I'm taking you back," Itachi suggested, taking his cloak off completely before folding it into a neat package.

Sakura shook her head. "No, you're not. Because that would mean you're doing something for someone else. You're incapable of caring, remember?"

"I didn't say it came without a price," Itachi said, leaning forward until his breath washed over her face. The inticing mixture of musk and forest clung to his skin. Everytime she inhaled, it entered her nostrils, rendering her completely useless. This time, she resisted.

"What price?" Sakura said, leaning closer as she glared at him.

Itachi responded by dropping his cloak beside him, and lifting one of his hands up to cup her cheek as the other one snaked around her waist, holding her firmly in place. His calloused thumb stroked her cheek while he observed her. Under his scrutiny, she grew restless and attempted to resist. Itachi laughed softly.

"I'm letting you go," Itachi said, the faint hint of a smile still gracing his perfect lips. His long fingers trailed through her hair, almost as tender as they had the day before. "Because that is what you want, is it not?"

"What is your price?" she breathed onto his lips, desperate to hear the answer while longing to feel more of him against her. Even the soft touches of his hand on her back were driving her insane.

"In the village, the Fourth Hokage left a legacy," Itachi said, lips touching her jaw. With one finger, he tilted her head for better access. "I want you to keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't do anything rash."

"Until you come for him, that is?"

He smirked against her overheated skin. "Clever kunoichi."

"Sadistic shinobi," she whispered in his ear.

Itachi laughed deeply and she reveled in the sound of it, wrapping her arms around his waist. Sakura pressed herself closer to him, feeling his hard muscles against her. In return, Itachi's grasp on her tightened as his lips slowly trailed back up her neck, over her jaw to her lips.

Sakura moved her hands until she held his head between them, her thumbs touching the smooth planes of his cheeks. She kissed him back, desperate to make this moment last between the two of them. Her mouth opened against his, but Itachi pulled back.

"Itachi… please…" she resorted to begging. Before she had met him, Sakura had never begged, but it was so easy to get caught up in the moment and remember nothing but his enticing smell and his virile beauty.

He pressed his thumb against her lips and looked at her with his exquisite dark gaze. "Do we have a deal?"

"The Fourth's legacy?" she questioned.

Itachi removed his thumb from her lips. "You'll find out soon enough. Perhaps you were too young when you were taken away from Konoha to know."

"Who is it?" Sakura whispered, leaning closer to inhale his addicting scent.

"You'll find out soon enough."

His grip over her waist loosened as he started to pull away from her. Sakura glanced at him, finding his eyes crimson again. "Is this goodbye?"

"Yes," Itachi said.

"But not forever."

"Not forever."

"Will you come for me?" she questioned.

"No. But I will visit from time to time and see how you're holding up our part of the agreement." Itachi glanced at her eyes as he moved away from her.

"But I won't know you're there," Sakura mused out loud, watching Itachi to see if she was right. He looked at her, crimson gaze piercing. His hands settled on her shoulders, watching her without blinking as they moved down, removing the Akatsuki cloak from her shoulders until it fell on the grass.

"No, you won't," Itachi replied.

"Then this is goodbye," Sakura said, half-smiling.

"For you, yes."

She moved closer, pressing her lips against him in one desperate, ditch attempt to memorize everything about him. It was strange that just in one night, everything had changed about Itachi. He was the cruel, ruthless person he always was, but Itachi also had some torturous look in his eye and she could identify with that.

Itachi let her go.

Already his mark was deeply embedded in her and Sakura would owe him for the rest of her life. She was a few hours removed from Konoha; from freedom. All she had to do in return was to follow some legacy around and make sure he was safe.

She could do that.

"What if I don't obey your orders?" Sakura whispered to his lips as he leaned in closer, inhaling the exquisite scent that clung to his warm skin.

Her eyes were closed, but she could clearly feel his smirk against her skin. "You will."

"Will Sasuke be there?" she questioned quietly, pulling back.

Itachi gazed at her for a short moment. "Perhaps."

"Will you kill the Fourth's legacy?" Sakura probed.

"Perhaps," he replied yet again.

"Will you kill Sasuke?" Sakura already knew the answer.

"… No."

Her eyes widened as she looked up to meet his poignant stare. "What?"

"No," he replied again, his face a complete blank.

"Why not?"

"Do you want me to kill him?" Itachi said, the corners of his mouth turning up ever so slightly.

"No," she said, shaking her head. Sakura observed him for a split second, until a thought rooted inside of her head and she was unable to dismiss it. His eyes were telling her nothing, but Sakura knew for some odd reason that he knew exactly where her train of thought had stopped. "Did you kill the clan?"

She expected a quick, calm 'yes', but Itachi yet again proved her wrong. "Perhaps," he said as he grasped her wrists. "Pein is coming. Go, Sakura."

"He will kill you."

"Perhaps," Itachi said again, aggrevating her. He obviously noted the look in her eyes as he closed his cloak again. "Perhaps he's thinking about it," Itachi revised. "But he wouldn't. I'm too important for this organization."

"Who are you, Uchiha Itachi?" Sakura said, frowning. "I don't understand how you can be so cold and so warm at the same time."

"I've never been warm," Itachi replied, his thin lips now hidden behind his high collar. "As for who I am… You know my name."

"And that's all I know about you," Sakura retorted.

"It's all you need to know."

"I'll be your spy and guard the Fourth's legacy. I'll be betraying my village for you."

"Yesterday, you hated me," Itachi said in cold amusement. "A few days ago, you wanted to kill me for touching Sasuke." He stopped momentarily and grabbed her chin with his long fingers, tilting her face up until he could see her emerald eyes blazing. "Today, you want to know everything about me and you don't want to say goodbye."

"Itachi…" she started, but he cut her off by placing a finger on her lips.

"You know nothing," Itachi said simply. "And that's the way it'll stay."

"I will ask Sasuke," Sakura replied.

"Sasuke will say nothing," Itachi responded quietly. "Guard well the legacy, Sakura."

And then he was moving away from her, letting go of her twists as he turned and walked away towards the edge of the meadow they were standing in. Itachi didn't glance over his shoulder as she hoped he would.

A breeze passed by, carrying leaves and sand. Instinctively, Sakura closed her eyes to protect them from the dirt. But as she re-opened them, she was standing alone in the meadow. The only sign that she had ever been with Itachi was the Akatsuki cloak that lay rumpled near her feet.

She picked it up and turned it inside out, not knowing how Konoha's reaction would be to see a cloak from an enemy organization. The crimson of the inside of the cloak oddly reminded her of the Sharingan and she smiled as she lifted up the fabric.

Saying goodbye to Itachi had hurt, more than it should even, but right now, the path in front of her would lead to Konoha. A place where she would be safe. Away from the intrigue of politics, from rogue shinobi and the first brewings of war. A place that had no Pein, or Orochimaru, or anyone else threatening her to kill those that she loved.

Haruno Sakura was free.

Bearing only that one thought in mind, Sakura smiled brightly like she hadn't smiled in years. She accumulated chakra to her feet and moved to the direction that Itachi had pointed out with almost super-human speed, forgetting all about Hakumei and Akatsuki and the humiliations she had endured.

--

Itachi was right.

Red mixed with dark blue as the final rays of sunlight disappeared beyond the horizon. She had just reached the border to Konoha. A large, imposing wall that she could remember as the outer wall loomed in front of her, fog distorting her vision.

There were ANBU posts all around her, and she was quite sure that it would be dangerous to approach them. Sakura had no passport and she doubted that any of the ANBU members would recall a girl getting kidnapped a decade ago.

Her best option was to go to the Hokage immediately, and then to visit her mother.

Making up her mind, she swiftly climbed into one of the largest trees around the wall until she reached the top. If she would store enough chakra into her feet, Sakura could easily get onto the wall.

The fog was working in her adventage.

Usually, the wall was guarded by chuunin who would see anyone coming there from a mile away, but the mist was thick and with her lightly colored clothing, she wouldn't be seen. Even so, Chuunin moved up and down the wall once in a while, she could see their green vests outlined starkly against the silvery color of the mist.

Sakura inhaled deeply, stored chakra in her feet and made a mad dash to the end of the branch. She flew through the air for a split second, completely free from gravity, before landing with a soft thud on the wall. Without thinking or listening to see if she had been spotted, Sakura jumped off the wall and into Konoha.

Using the very last of her chakra, she sprinted until she was inside of town, hidden between crooked houses and the various restaurants that were opening. Warm lights scattered all across the streets welcomed her and Sakura had to fight to resist crying as she hear someone playing the flute.

The melody was soft and soothing, though it had been almost haunting in her mind. She passed the boy playing it and he gave her a crooked grin as he noticed her stopping in front of him, enjoying the tune.

Sakura smiled back uncomfortably and moved on through the throng of people. A lot of shinobi wandered around, she noted, as she walked past a boy with messy dark hair. He was playing with his enormous white dog, grinning freely. Though he seemed ordinary, he was armed with several shuriken and kunai and his stance was guarded to some degree.

She turned into a smaller street. It was dimly lit and quieter than the street she had previously been in. It was hard for her to orientate; it felt like a million years ago that she had been in Konoha, running around with another girl whose name she couldn't recall.

Sakura passed a couple, hugging each other as they walked past her and into a small ramen stand called 'Ichiraku'. She stood still, pondering if she had any money left as the delicious smell of ramen entered her nose. Just as she made up her mind to walk on, determined to get to the Hokage's office before midnight, a tall, blond boy stepped outside.

He seemed deep in thoughts, but he looked up and regarded her with his cerulean blue eyes before grinning widely at her. "Are you lost?" he asked her, still grinning widely. The three stripes that adorned each of his cheeks moved along with the smile, stretching slightly.

"I… guess I am," Sakura said, smiling back at him. "I need to get to the Hokage's office."

"Visiting the old lady huh?" he replied easily. "It's a bit difficult to explain the way, but I'll walk you there, if you'd like."

"No thank you," Sakura declined politely. She found the boy nice, but she wanted to be alone for a while instead of having to explain everything to a random stranger. "Just the directions will be fine."

"Oh," the boy responded, obviously disappointed. "Well, go straight on from here, third street to the left, then to the right and you'll be right there."

"Difficult indeed," Sakura teased, winking. Surprised with how easy she had teased him, Sakura bit her lip, wondering if she had gone too far. But the boy laughed sheepishly as he folded his arms behind his head.

"Be careful though."

"Hm," Sakura said, looking up to the moon. "It's a bright night. I doubt I'll get in trouble. Thanks for the directions."

"Anytime," the blond said.

Sakura turned to leave, but the boy laid his hand on her shoulder, stopping her halfway. "Hey, I'm Uzumaki Naruto by the way. What's your name?"

"… Sakura… Haruno Sakura," she said.

"Sakura-chan huh? I hope I'll see you again," Naruto laughed as he let go of her shoulder. "I feel like we could be great friends."

Sakura smiled. "I think so too."

He grinned widely at her, ready to ask her some more questions, but he felt the presence of someone approaching and turned around. "Kakashi-sensei, it's been a while!"

Naruto whirled around to introduce Sakura to Kakashi, but she was already gone. He smiled at the open place where she just stood, already having memorized her emerald eyes and bubblegum hair. "Take care Sakura-chan…" he whispered to the night, before dashing towards his teacher.

--

"That's quite a story," Tsunade whispered, looking at the girl in front of her. She looked exhausted, dark circles under her bright, emerald eyes. But her posture was rigid, as if she was prepared for anything that might attack her. "Haruno Sakura was it?"

"Yes," Sakura answered politely, her fists balled in anticipation.

Tsunade sighed, leaned back in her chair and turned her hazel gaze back to Sakura. "You were abducted when you were a child, escaped from Orochimaru, and found your way back to Konoha, if I understand correctly."

"Yes," Sakura repeated. She had completely left out the part about Akatsuki. To tell someone else about how Akatsuki worked and where they lived, what their abilities were; all of that seemed treachery, especially after Itachi freed her. For some reason, Sakura also felt that Itachi would know she wouldn't mention them.

At that precise moment, another kunoichi witch short, raven hair stepped inside. Sakura recognized her as the kunoichi that Tsunade had sent away the moment she stepped inside and said her name. In her hands was a file and though it was half hidden by the woman's hand, Sakura easily spotted the kanji of her name on it.

"Thank you, Shizune," Tsunade said, accepting the file as Shizune handed it to her.

Shizune bowed before turning to Sakura. "Would you like something to drink?" she asked politely, her flat, dark eyes observing her for a split second.

"No thank you," Sakura replied, smiling ever so lightly.

With another curt bow, Shizune stepped outside the room, closing the wooden door softly.

As Sakura turned to see Tsunade's expression, she noticed that Tsunade was skimming through her file, sometimes stopping to read an entire passage, before continuing the scrutiny. "Your story of being abducted seems to be correct," Tsunade said after a while with another sigh, closing the file.

"However, you were working under Orochimaru for a long time," Tsunade continued, her brown eyes looking back and forth at Sakura's. "I can't trust you just yet. I hope you can understand that."

"I do," Sakura said quietly.

Tsunade nodded in approval. "You'll go through a trial period. If I deem that you're trustworthy, you'll be placed in a team, if you want to continue being a shinobi."

"I do," Sakura replied. "My medical abilties come in handy."

The Hokage nodded again. "I'd like to see those abilities of you. But, we'll save that for tomorrow. I gather you'd like to see your mother now."

Sakura nodded eagerly. "Can I?"

Tsunade smiled for the first time since Sakura had stepped inside her office. "You're dimissed."

Sakura nodded and turned to walk away, but Tsunade's voice stopped her in her tracks. "Oh, and Sakura."

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"Next time, use the front gate," Tsunade said with a small grin.

Sakura stood still for a moment longer, searching Tsunade's face. She then bowed deeply and hurried out of the room, through the long hallway until she stepped outside the Hokage's office. Her stride turned into a sprint as she hastily moved past two shinobi carrying boxes, past a blond girl chattering to a somewhat overweight shinobi eating some potato chips.

She moved across the bridge she knew so well, past the Hyuuga household that she passed every day when she was younger. She rushed past the hot springs and a silver-haired man peeping at the women, not caring about repremanding the pervert as she came closer and closer to one of the smallest districts in Konoha.

Passing through another small street, Sakura turned to the left and gasped as she noticed the street where she grew up. It was bathed in moonlight, and the smell of a barbecue restaurant invaded her nostrils.

Though she wanted to run, Sakura walked slowly and carefully towards one of the houses, her eyes fixed on the door. She nearly bumped into a girl with white eyes and a shy stare, but Sakura couldn't care less as she moved past the final few feet, up the few steps.

She stood in front of the door, rehearsing what she would say to her mother. Itachi's face flashed before her eyes and Sakura silently thanked him as she knocked on the door, hesitantly.

"Coming!" called a familiar voice. Sakura's knees buckled under her weight.

The door opened, revealing a woman. Her pink thresses were adorned a slim face, lines of worry and perhaps, hopefully, some of laughter had formed around her eyes and mouth. Her emerald eyes looked so much older than she could remember and her face was set into a disapproving look, until it transformed into a look of shock and finally into one of incredulous joy.

Sakura had prepared an entire speech and would then hug her mother and not let go, but the words stuck inside her throat. A large lump had formed and no matter how many times she swallowed, it would not go away. It was hard to breathe as she looked into the face she had dreamed about throughout those haunting nights in Orochimaru's den.

Finally, she smiled.

"I'm home," Sakura said, tears streaming over her face.

Her mother lunged forward to hug her daughter, incredulous and shocked, but so ecstatic and overjoyed that her enthusiasm quickly moved onto Sakura. She held her mother tightly, enjoying the warmth and the familiar floral scent, freesia perhaps, which always seemed to surround her mother.

They stood like that in the door opening for what seemed an eternity, holding on to each other as they both cried silently. Finally, her mother moved away from her, still crying as her hands moved over Sakura's face. "We should go inside," her mother finally said, another bright smile on her face.

Sakura nodded, allowing her mother to lead the way.

But as she moved inside, Sakura stepped onto something solid.

She glanced down, expecting to see a pebble or something akin to that, but instead saw a small ring. Sakura picked it up, her eyes widening as she noticed the small crimson circle and the kanji for 'red' on it.

Itachi's ring.

Instinctively, Sakura looked around, scanning the perimeter for a flash of black and red, or perhaps to see his crimson eyes peering towards her from some point.

But the street was empty.

Her mother was there, grabbing her hand as she pulled Sakura out of her reverie, looking worried. But Sakura flashed another reassuring smile as her fingers curled around her mother's hands. "Yes, let's go."

With another smile, she pocketed Itachi's ring and followed her mother inside.

**THE END**

_**A/N: **__Woah, opening ending huh? I have to confess that's because I originally also had a sequal in mind. I might still write it, but I think I like this ending a lot as well, haha._

_Thank you all for reading, it really means the world to me to see people also like to try other stories by me. I was really hesitant to start an AU, but I'm glad I started the project and continued going, even though my muse abandoned me from time to time._

_Thanks again!_

_-- Mitsuki Shiroi_


End file.
